Klash of the Koopalings
by Spencer Klondike 2.0
Summary: Sick in bed with the dreaded Ivory Fever, Bowser sends his children to rescue the princess in his stead. Unfortunately, they learn that sometimes fighting yourself isn't just a metaphor. Rated T to be safe.
1. Sibling Rivalry

**Disclaimer: **All characters, places, and the like, belong to Nintendo (and grudgingly, some goes to DIC entertainment)

"What a beautiful day to have Ivory Fever." Bowser hacked and coughed with sarcasm.

Yes indeed it was a beautiful day. The sun was well hidden behind thick dark clouds, the laughter of koopa children rang in the air. Bowser looked longingly into the fields where the kids played. Then like pouring salt on the wound, it started raining. Now it was more than beautiful, it was perfect! Yes it was the perfect weather to go kidnap a princess and probably the best weather the kingdom had seen in awhile.

Bowser grumbled to himself as he thought back a couple days before. Of course he had to go to that slum to make a speech to his lowlier subjects. What a horrible mistake that was! He should've known what diseases and parasites were floating around the air, but no, he had to trust Kamek's advice to "treat the people equally as to earn respect" as he put it. His weekend plans had been ruined, well, almost. Perhaps there was another person that could go in his place to enact his plans

Someone cunning as himself, brave and handsome too! Yes, someone that could woo the princess and bring her ever closer to his greedy arms with only a casual grin. Ah, but what was he thinking? There was nobody other than himself that could be that great. He'd have to settle for something a step lower, yes, but who was a step lower than him? Then it hit him.

"_Jeeves!_ Get your worthless shell in here!" Bowser roared, at least it was a roar for one with Ivory Fever. A fairly nervous koopa troopa dressed in fine clothing took baby steps into the room. He wore a surgical mask around his face and rubber gloves on his hands.

"Yes sir?" Jeeves squeeked.

"Get my children, I must have a word with them, right now." Bowser grumbled.

"Is that all sir?" Jeeves asked shakily.

"Yes that's all, now get them or I'll pry that mask off your pretty little face." Bowser threatened. Jeeves turned around sped away from the room eager to get away from the sickly monarch. "How pathetic."

_Meanwhile..._

As our sickly king scared the shell off of his subject, Jeeves, his children were outside enjoying the weather with a game of baseball. At the pitcher's plate, stood the second oldest Koopaling, Lemmy. Rain ran down his baseball cap as he charged his pitch. Larry braced himself for the pitch, his bat pulled back ready to go. Lemmy hurled the ball at blinding speeds, but Larry being the sports nut that he is, smacked the small ball dead on.

With a crack that rivaled a firework's, the small white ball went soaring straight down field, cruising past the shocked Koopa troopas that played in the outfield. Larry took off, his feet carrying him to first base as fast as they could. He graced over it and followed his way to second. The outfielders scrambled around for the ball, Larry cruised past second in no time. Finally the incompetent out field hurled the ball the third base, where Iggy sat waiting.

"I've got it! I've got it!" Iggy shouted as Larry sped past third base. Iggy caught the ball just in time to see Larry head for home.

With a powerful throw, he threw the ball to catcher, who was none other than Roy Koopa. Roy snatched the ball out of the air as Larry neared home. Larry dove forward with his arms stretched forward, only to be plucked from the air by his older brother. Roy tapped Larry with the ball and threw him to the side.

"Uuuurrr out!" Roy shouted.

"What! No fair, you're not allowed to do that in baseball." Larry snapped as he dusted himself off.

"We're playin prison rules, rememba?" Roy cracked a grin. Larry jumped at Roy, his claws ready to strangle.

Roy just nonchalantly swatted down his brother and put his foot on his chest. Larry squirmed, trying to slip out of his brother's hold. Roy looked down at Larry and hocked a lugie. Larry's eyes grew wide, it sucked to be the little guy.

"Can you people keep down out here? I'm trying to read." Ludwig muttered as he stepped into the base ball field, just in time to see Roy ready to spit on Larry. "Roy, vhat are you doing?"

The pink headed teenager gulped and turned around.

"Nutin, teachin Larry here how to not be a sore losa." Roy replied innocently.

"That's not true! Roy cheated in our baseball game and then he tried to spit on me!"

"No I didn't, we were playin prison rules, I said dat at da beginnin of da game."

"To who, the ground? I didn't hear you." Larry growled.

"Oh yeah well..."

"Vill you two stop it? I've had enough of your little antics. Now you see vhy I don't lie zese sports. All zey do is begat barbaric behavior. Spitting on each other is disgusting Roy." Ludwig growled.

"Ah knock it off you snob, it's not like a little spit was going hurt Larry." Iggy butted.

"Stay out of zis _Ignatius_."

"Well why can't we argue huh? It's a free country right?" Lemmy piped in.

"No it isn't Lemmy, you see ve live under a monarchy, which means that..."

"Shudap Ludwig, if I wanted to hear a Koopapedia entry I woulda asked." Roy yawned.

To make a long story short, the argument carried on for almost ten minutes. Had it gone on any longer, it would've escalated to a fist fight. Which fortunately it didn't. The force stopping our bickering princes? Why Jeeves of course, who showed up just in the nick of time. Jr., Wendy, and Morton all at his side.

"Excuse me! Your Majesties, your father requests your presence!" Jeeves panted out of breath, it looked as if he had been running around the whole castle. At that the bickering ceased, they looked at eachother uncertainly.

"Zat can't be good..." Ludwig muttered.

Jeeves led the terrified kids down the hall. A sick father, requesting an urgent meeting with his kids could only mean that something bad was going to happen. One by one they grabbed surgical masks and entered Bowser's room. Ludwig looked at his sickly father, his eyes bloodshot, his skin pale while his shell was covered with sores. For the first time in awhile, Ludwig pitied his father.

"Kids, I have something very important to ask of you." Bowser coughed.

"W-what is it Papa." Jr. sniffled. Bowser hacked and coughed even more.

"I need you kids to do something for me." Bowser wheezed.

"Anyzing dad, anzing." Ludwig shook in his shell, for once in his life he was scared. Scared that if his father passed, he'd be the one in charge, and as cool as that sounded, he didn't feel ready. He was only sixteen after all!

"Seeing as how I'm in horrible condition, I cannot carry out my plans to kidnap the princess this weekend. I was hoping that you kids could do it for me." Bowser replied.

"Wait, you mean to say that you're not dying?" Iggy cocked his head.

"No of course not, what're you kids thinking? It's going to take a little more than a case of Ivory Fever to bring this bad boy down."

"Vhat! Ve zought you vere dying and all you vanted us to do was your chore!?" Ludwig snapped, the others nodded in agreement.

"We'll do it Papa." Jr. stuck his tongue at Ludwig

"Great Jr. I knew I could count on you." His sickly father smiled. "_And_ since only one of my children seems to be faithful, it seems like he's the only one who's fit for my clown car."

"Whoa, you didn't say that one of us got to drive the clown car." Iggy suddenly looked regretful for nodding along with Ludwig.

"I just did, Jr. gets to."

"Vhat about us?" Ludwig asked.

"You get to take an airship, after all, you just love it when people use your inventions right?" Bowser snarked to his eldest son.

_An hour of preperation later..._

_"_Of all za nerve of that stupid old man, comissioning us to do his vork after all zese years he's just left us at za castle. Sure, now zat he's sick that means he can use us. I don't even zink I should help him, zat vouldn't do us justice no..." Ludwig grumbled on and on.

Iggy and Lemmy just ignored him as they loaded their luggage into Ludwig's docked airship. He was known for this kind of thing, and of course you never interuppted his rant, never. Otherwise you should consider yourself toast. Ludwig had been the first of the Koopalings learn how to use fire breath, and he liked to excercise that power regularlly.

Above the clouds, Bowser Jr. impatiently fluttered around in his father's clown car. His siblings were taking their sweet time loading up in to their airship and with such a demanding schedule (at least it was to him), it was quite irritating for the child. Fed up with waiting, he dove down under the clouds to see what was going on. On the doom ship, the unmistakeable hair dos of his two older siblings made their way across the deck. Ludwig and Iggy finally made it to the cock pit and switched on the power. Finally able to make radio contact, Junior lifted his radio up and vented his frustration.

"Come on guys, get that ship started up, _now_!" Jr. yelled into a small radio inside the clown car.

"Look, if you vant us to help, zen you'll have to be patient and let za ship varmup." Ludwig growled.

"Well make it warmup faster then! We have a princess to kidnap." Jr. cried.

Ludwig sighed and looked at his radio. _I don't deserve zis, _he thought to himself. With a beep, the small radio shut off and Bowser Jr. was back to his usual impatient pacing.

"Okay, ready for take off." Iggy cracked a smile, "In t-minus 5, 4...."

"Just press za button Iggy, za faster ve get zis over vith, za faster I can get back to rectifying our old NES." Ludwig growled impatiently. The teenagers pride and joy had recently broke down and needed extensive repairs, and after years of entertainment, he would not let it die.

"Fine, killjoy." Iggy muttered.

The two inventors of the airship quickly went to work on making sure that the boat successfully left the ground. Preferrably without an explosion. This Doom Ship was getting very old, and if they weren't careful, let's just say that only one could imagine the worst case scenario. Soon they reached cloud level as tremendous turbulence shook the ship. Carefully manuevering the ship around, Ludwig managed to keep it steady. They burst out of the clouds, fortunately in one piece.

"It's about time you slow pokes showed up!" Jr. called over the radio.

"If you vanted a faster take off, you should've persuaded dad to give all of us new clown cars."

"Oh yeah? _You_ should've built a faster airship, then we wouldn't have this problem."

"_Grr_, you make me so irate you little...never mind, you are not vorth it." Ludwig settled down when he saw Iggy prepare for another infamous Ludwig rant. Ludwig held his tongue and got back to piloting the ship.

"So, um, what's our estimated time of arrival?" Iggy asked trying to get Ludwig's mind off of Jr.

"If zings go smoothly, ve'll arrive in about four hours or so." Ludwig quickly estimated.

"_Great._" Iggy sighed. "Hey, wanna play 'I spy" to pass the time?"

"No, I have to concentrate on driving za ship. Never drive distracted."

"Yeah right, what exactly are you going to hit way up here. A solid cloud?"

"It has happened before." Ludwig shrugged.

"Man Ludwig, you're no fun anymore."

"I'm acting my age, you should too."

"Yeah whatever." Iggy rolled his eyes and stared out the window, the endless sea of clouds relaxed and soothed his mind. Soon, his eye lids grew heavy, and he fell asleep.

_Meanwhile, about eight worlds away..._

Mario and Luigi looked up and down long sparkling hallways. Their clothes were torn and stained, hair tousled and matted. Sweat ran down their faces in large beads. Finally the mission was completed, or so they thought. The Princess arrived with a small tray of drinks and walked towards them. They had faced shadow demons, an evil king and his children, and many other baddies, but nothing prepared them for the job ahead.

"Thanks so much for helping out with spring cleaning, I don't think we could've gotten this far wtihout you." The Princess smiled.

"Oh no-a problem Princess, we love-a spring cleaning." Mario gave her a thumbs up.

"We-a do?" Luigi muttered, Mario elbowed him in the ribs. "D'oh, I mean-a, of course-a we do."

"Great! So that means you guys are ready for the next job?"

"N-next-a job?" Luigi frowned.

"Of course-a Princess, what would you have us-a do?" Mario nodded politely.

"We need to clean out that attic, it's absolutely cluttered and filthy." The Princess replied.

"Lets-a go!" Mario jumped.

"You're enthusiasm's-a killing me Mario." Luigi sighed as they made their way up the long flight of stairs. It felt like walking to your own doom. Stormy clouds swooped in almost instantly, the hallways darkened. Luigi felt genuinely scared, he'd actually never been in the attic before.

"I must warn you boys, this attic has never been cleaned in my life time. My parents were pack rats, to say the least." The Princess said cautiously.

"Oh joy." Luigi muttered, still slightly frightened.

Unfortunately, the door didn't budge when Peach tried to open it. Mario gave it a shot, but still nothing. Luigi looked up at the door and stroked his mustache thinking. Then he noticed that there was a small lock holding the door in place. He face palmed himself and undid the lock. The door burst open, an avalanche junk cascaded on top of Luigi.

"Help-a me, I'm a stuck!" Luigi yelled, his voice muffled.

"I can-a already see that we're-a going to have so much-a fun cleaning this attic." Mario sighed, he tried his hardest not to sound sarcastic.

He grabbed Luigi by his wrists and plucked him out of the junk. Now free, Luigi dusted himself off and looked over the tall pile of junk full on. He nearly fainted, this mess was horrible!

"Alright boys, let's get started." Peach smiled confidently.

It took them about an hour to clean out that large pile before them. They had organized it into large boxes. Old pictures, clothing, nick knacks, bells, and whistles were only some of the things that made up this mess. Finally they could see into the actual attic, unfortunately they also found that the previous mess was only the tip of the iceberg. More piles with similar dimensions lay around. Shelves and tables were filled to the point of collapsing. Worst of all, they literally couldn't see the floor. There seemed to be no end.

"How'd they-a fit all of this-a stuff in here?" Luigi asked to no one in particular.

"It-a doesn't matter, we've still got-a mess to clean." Mario muttered in reply.

With that said, they began digging into the seemingly endless pile of junk.

_Five hours later_...

Mario's arms felt like they would fall off, Peach leaned back into an old rocking chair they dug up, Luigi had fainted as soon as the Princess had said "We're done!" It took them five hours, but they had finished. Mario looked out the large stained glass picture of Peach and could see that the sun had begun to set.

"Princess, if you don't-a mind, I think-a I'm-a going to call it a day." Mario said as he stood up.

"That's fine, I think we should all just call it a day." Peach yawned.

"Luigi, wake-a up. We're going-a home."

At the sound of 'home' Luigi sprang up and made his way out of the room. Mario followed close behind. Tired and hungry, the two left the castle and walked down the small dirt path to the gates. As if on cue, it began raining.

"Mario, why do-a we have to clean up the castle? Doesn't-a the princess have servants?" Luigi griped.

"Quite-a your whining Luigi, we-a did it to be-a polite." Mario sighed. "Besides, I thought you-a liked housekeeping."

"It's not-a my house though."

"Just-a be glad we're done with today and we can get-a some good rest."

Everyone's favorite plumbers bantered on, unbeknownst to them that seven dark figures made their way across the castle grounds. Their dark silhouettes jumped from bush to bush. Somehow they managed to remain hidden from view as they reached the threshold of the castle. The crazy haired leader of the group lightly knocked on the door.

"Hello?" Toadsworth answered the door. The last thing he remembered before being knocked unconscious was seeing a blur of blue and a blunt metal object. The seven stepped into the grand hall took a good look around.

"Whoa, look at this grand, huge, and over all intimidating room. I don't think we'll ever be able to find the princess at this rate. Let's give up, throw in the towel, go home, call in sick; hey check out the echo in here, echooo, isn't that cool? What if...." A small bald headed figure's voice rung across the halls

"Shudap Bigmouth!" Another larger bald headed figure snapped.

"Why don't you both shut up and get down to sneaking and stealing." One, rather raspy voiced, figure snapped.

"Cheatsy is right, stay focused! Now I've got a plan, we should split up and find that Princess." The crazy haired leader smiled.

"Great idea-" One twin began

"Kooky." The other finished.

"Eeheheowoweh, I am so smart aren't I?" Kooky laughed his manical high pitched laugh. Suddenly, there was the sound of stairs creaking. The koopalings shut up and looked over at the stair case, a toad was standing at the top. The kids barrled out of sight and into the shadows once again.

"What is that racket down there?" The toad asked.

"Absolutely nothing of suspicion, never was, never will be, please go back to your usual business that you normally attend to at this time of night." Bigmouth yelled back.

"Jerry? 's that you? Man you gotta lay off the caffeine."

"Yes you are one-hundred percent correct, no more caffeine for Jerry, now I'll be off um...patrolling this here hallway if you don't mind."

"Alright then, see you after the shifts over." The guard replied, the rest of the koopa klan sighed with relief.

"Way to go Bigmouth." Kooky smiled.

With that said, the seven dispersed in search of Princess Peach and perhaps other valuables...

Upstairs in the attic, Peach slowly dozed off in her plushy rocking chair. She thought of how crazy that day had been. _At least the attic looks good_, she thought to herself before she fell asleep. Finally, she fell asleep. Making her totally unaware that the smaller twins from before, Hip and Hop, had entered the attic in search of something to do. They had been attracted by all of the boxes of junk laying around and did what they do best, screwed around.

However it didn't take them long to realize that the person they were looking for was actually right there in the room with them. Almost shocked at the fact that the princess was right beneath their nose, Hip ran out to find Kooky while Hop stayed behind.

_Meanwhile..._

Heavy Rain pattered against the window. Iggy's eyes slowly opened to the rythmic sound. _How long have I been out_, he asked himself. He sat up and winced, _ow, crick in the neck, crick in the neck. _He groaned to himself. He looked over at Ludwig, who's eyes were filled burning anger at the moment. Outside the ship's window, sat Castle Toadstool. Much to his surprise, he looked over at the clock to see the time.

"Ludwig! We're two hours over your estimation, you know I think I'll never trust your estimations again." Iggy snapped.

"It is not my fault zat someone doesn't know how to stay avake and help during a zunderstorm."Ludwig roared.

"Whoa, what's your problem?" Iggy froze, Ludwig never got _this_ angry.

"It's complicated Iggy, you vouldn't understand." Ludwig muttered.

Iggy and Ludwig got to work moving the ship slightly above the castle. Bowser Jr. hastily smashed through the roof while the rest of the Koopalings rappelled down the side of the their airship and through the new entrance to the castle. Toads ran left and right screaming for help.

"I wonda' why da Princess get's dese bozos to guard da castle." Roy yelled as he punched one in the face. "Dey're useless."

"We're not here to abuse some Toads, we're here to kidnap a princess, now get going and find her before Mario get's here." Jr. snapped, then flew away on his clown car.

"Jeez, what's up with him?" Larry asked.

"I think it has somezing to do vith za fact zat deep down inside he still thinks zat Peach is still our mother." Ludwig shrugged.

"Heh, what a lunatic, I don't even think that's biologically possible!" Iggy laughed.

"Just find Peach or father vill skin us alive." Ludwig commanded.

"Right, right, forgot you're not fun anymore."

"Shut up or _I'll_ skin you alive." Ludwig grabbed Iggy the his neck and held a fist to his face.

"Just calm down, act your age, um...I'm not worth it." Iggy spouted off all the things that Ludwig used to calm himself. Ludwig clenched his fist and put it to his side. He dropped Iggy to the floor and looked down at him.

"Fine, you vin zis time Iggy, next time I might not be able to exercise as much _self control_." Ludwig muttered.

_In the great hall of the castle..._

"Holy kooparoni, it's like a great toad migration!" Kooky yelped as a stampede of toads ran by. Hip dashed through the crowd of toads, the small child narrowly avoided getting crushed.

"K-Kooky, we found her!" Hip panted.

"What! Lead on brother, we'll be out of here in no time!"

"Do we get to sing a show tune while we're at it?" Hip asked hopefully.

"No not now, we don't have any time for catchy show tunes." Kooky replied to a disappointed Hip, Kooky himself was slightly disappointed. "Let's go!"

Hip lead the way through the panicked toads. Jumping, ducking, and sliding all over the place to dodge from getting trampled. In no time they found the way up to the attic. Hop was sitting in a box fiddling around with its contents while the Princess was fast asleep, looking rather content.

"Tie her up and get her out of here! Koopa Klan, we found her!" Kooky shouted at the top of his lungs. In an instant, claws clattering against tile could be heard chasing their way up the flight of stairs just outside of the attic. The princess's eyes slowly opened, only to find that she was being tied down by two little koopa children.

"Reporting for duty!" Cheatsy burst through the door.

"Rendezvousing, if that's a word, with all of you. It appears that you've found our huggable, loveable, princess-_oof!_" Bigmouth had been punched in the gut by Bully, who had arrived only a few seconds earlier.

"What's dis about findin da princess?"

"Ugh, what is that woman wearing?" Kootie Pie scoffed as she entered the room.

"_Help!! Someone help"_ Peach screamed as soon as she realized what was going on.

"That won't work Princess Toadstool, all of your little toads have been scared away by our presence. Eehehehhee." Kooky laughed.

"Wh-what's going on, who are you?" Peach looked around in distress.

"Don't you recognize us?" Hop asked.

"No not rea-"

"It's us, your usual kidnappers, the Koopalings. Sent on special orders from king dad to pick you up and take you back. By the way, do you prefer nylon or wool rope. Personally I prefer nylon, nice and soft, wool makes me chafe. _And_...I'd better stop talking before Bully hits me." Bigmouth ran and hid behind Kooky.

"If you're the Koopalings, then I think I need to get my eyes checked. You look nothing like I remember." Said Peach.

"You're not quite what we remembered either Princess, since when have you been a blonde?" Hip and Hop asked in unison.

"What do you mean, I've always had my hair like this." Peach gave them a quizzical look. _What on earth is going on here_, _these aren't the koopalings are they? If so, then time hasn't been kind_, she thought to herself.

Suddenly, there was a crash. The group looked around shocked. Something big was coming. The sound of a small propeller whizzing filled the halls. A clown faced pod sped down the hall, headed straight towards them at high velocity.

"What is that thing!" Kootie Pie shouted

"_I'm coming Mama Peach!!" _Jr. screamed.

"Bowser Jr?" Peach asked confused.

"Bowser who?" Kooky arched an eyebrow. The clown car halted in mid air and hovered above the confused koopalings. Bowser poked his head out and looked down at the princess's would be kidnappers.

"I'm Bowser Jr. son of Bowser, king of the Koopas." Jr. screamed his battle cry.

"No, our dad is the king of the Koopas, yours is an impostor!" Cheatsy accused.

"What! How dare you, my papa is the best king there is. No one's better than him, no one!" Jr. snapped. Unfortunately, Jr. fell into an impromptu trick that the emperor of evesdropping concocted. Cheatsy slowly had Jr. into a yelling fit while Builly looked around for a formidable weapon that could take on their new tiny adversary.

"How interesting, I think we'll be going now with the Princess, buh-bye." Kootie Pie blew Jr. a kiss.

"No way you creeps! Mama Peach is mine!!" Jr. screeched as he dove down to steal the princess.

"Oh no you don't!" Bully shouted. With a strong throw, he smacked Jr. on the head with a small wind-up toy that was laying on the ground. Dazed, Jr. and the clown car crashed to the ground.

"No body takes off with our prisoner! Let's go!" Cheatsy yelled as they grabbed Peach.

"_Help, anyone else if you're here, help!!" _The princess screamed in vain.

"Like I said, there's no one else here!" Kooky shouted.

The Koopalings, or at least that's what they called themselves, whisked Peach away to their doom ship parked just outside the gates leading to the castle. With a delayed take off, Peach was taken away. Where? Only time would tell...

**

* * *

**

A/N:

Hope the story's enjoyable so far. I know the plot seems kind of confusing, especially if you know a thing or two about the old Super Mario Bros 3 T.V. Show and it's characters (Some of you may be asking, how can there be Ludwig _and_ Kooky? Don't worry I'll explain in chapter two)

Knowing the show also might help with some of the jokes. (For example, the Koopalings often sang a show tune in the T.V. Show. Hence the disappointment that Kooky and Hip feel when they don't have time)

One last thing, if the accents that some of the characters speak in annoy you or get in the way of reading. Say so in a review or e-mail me if you feel so inclined.

With that said, have a good day/night/afternoon wherever you are.


	2. Cookies and Resources

**Disclaimer: **I wouldn't be here now if I owned Mario, so there you have it. Happy that you've crushed my dreams Nintendo? So yeah, Nintendo owns Mario.

Luigi opened his eyes to the perfect morning. The sun was shining, the birds were thankfully quiet, best of all he felt totally rejuvenated from the previous days exploits. Of course knowing Luigi's luck, it probably wasn't going to last. To prove my point, there was a sudden pounding at the door. Luigi waited for Mario to go get it, but all he heard was his deep snores.

His good mood trashed, Luigi groggily jumped out of bed. Floorboards lazily creaked on his way to the door, once again the manic pounding the door. Luigi rolled his eyes and pulled it open. With no time to react, a manic Toad burst into the room, throwing Luigi to the ground.

"_The Princess has been kidnapped!!" _The crazed toad screamed in Luigi's face.

"Princess-a kidnapped!? Let's-a go Luigi!" Mario snatched his hat off of his end table and barreled out the door in his pajamas.

Mario speedily dashed across the Mushroom country side. Dew glimmered on the grass as he sped along the dirt path to Peach's castle. In no time at all, Mario found himself at Toadtown. The town itself, was in utter chaos. News that the princess had been kidnapped sent everyone into a hysteric panic. Though it's nothing new, Toads will freak out if something bad happens. Toads were such cowardly creatures at times. Only a few ever put up a fight, and those were already out in the army.

"Look everybody! It's Mario, he's come to save the day!!"One lone toad cried. The townspeople stopped their panicking and began cheering everyone's favorite plumber on.

He ignored them, his mind set on one thing, the gate to the castle. The large blue gate with the Toadstool family insignia engraved on the side slowly opened. Just beyond it was an infamous Koopa Doom Ship hanging in the air above the castle. Mario adjusted his hat, and pressed on.

_Inside the castle..._

Iggy looked around the room bored out of his mind. Ludwig was pacing back and forth deep in thought. Roy and Morton were chatting about some girl in a magazine. Larry, Lemmy, and Wendy were off searching for Bowser Jr., who had mysteriously gone missing only moments after they broke into the castle. At the same time, Peach was no where to be found. One could assume that she had seen them coming, and hid somewhere. But how could she know? It didn't make any sense to Iggy. Then out of the corner of his eye, he saw something red.

Fearing the worst, Iggy turned and saw a large window looking out into the castle grounds. He pressed his face up against the glass and squinted his eyes. A small figure was making it's way down the path visibly stuck out against the dirt path. Iggy's eyes grew wide as he recognized who was coming after them.

"Red alert! Red alert! Mario's here guys, someone do something!" Iggy screamed as he ran from the windows. The room suddenly came to life while Iggy screeched his warning over and over again.

"I'll take care a' dat red twerp, he ain't big a' deal." Roy grinned.

"You forget zat he's beaten us every time ve've faced him." Ludwig sighed.

"Dat was a long time ago, I'm bigga' and stronga' dan I eva was." Roy flexed his biceps.

"Fine, but take Morton vis you. Morton, keep his head out of za clouds and make sure zat he doesn't get distracted." Ludwig commanded.

"Whatever."

Morton and Roy quickly left the room and headed down to the main entrance. Larry and Wendy entered the room, they had heard Iggy's hysterical screaming. Iggy checked the window once more, Mario was kicking and pounding the door.

"What's this I hear about Mario coming?" Larry panted.

"Look out the window, that fat man in the red ain't Santa Claws." Iggy pointed.

"Like, what are we going to do." Wendy asked.

"Vhat ve came here to do." Ludwig said sternly.

"Yeah, about that, I don't think she's even in the castle any more. Heck, we can't even find Jr." Larry said nervously.

"Vhat do you mean you cannot find zem? Is zere anyvhere else you have not searched?" Ludwig snapped.

"Um, _like_, Lemmy's still upstairs checking it out there. _Like_, we haven't been up there yet." Wendy replied.

"You trust zat screwball to find anyzing by himself? Vhat vere you guys thinking?"

"Hey, he's the one who wanted to go on his own. Besides, we're trying as hard as we can Ludwig. You could try to be a little bit more patient with us."

"Ve're about to be attacked by a von man army and you vant me to calm and patient? Larry zere is no time for calm and patient! Find Lemmy, search ze upper levels and report back to me." Ludwig yelled.

"Jeez, that fat moron's getting more and more like dad every day." Larry muttered to himself and ran away with Wendy.

"I heard zat." Ludwig snapped.

"_Tsk tsk tsk _Ludwig, I thought you were trying to get over your little temper tantrums." Iggy mock scolded.

"I have no time for this Iggy, Roy's big head's going to get the best of him and ve're the only things standing between the search party and Mario. I suggest you get ready to fight." Ludwig glared at Iggy.

"I'd hate to say it, but yeah that's probably the best plan right now." Iggy reluctantly agreed.

_Meanwhile, still outside the castle..._

Mario kicked and pounded the door, but it wouldn't budge. Not that it was locked, something big was holding the small door back. Ready to give up and find an alternate route, Luigi showed up as if on cue.

"Luigi! What took you-a so long." Mario shouted.

"I was-a getting dressed. Unlike someone I-a know." Luigi muttered. Mario suddenly realized that he was still dressed in his pajamas.

"That doesn't-a matter right now-a Luigi." Mario said red faced. "Do you think-a you could do-a something to bring-a down this door?"

"Well..."

"Spit it out-a Luigi." Mario snapped.

"I could-a smash it down with my-a head, but that would be-a very painful." Luigi sighed.

"Do it! Those-a Bowser creeps could escape any moment." Mario commanded.

"Alright, this is-a going to get messy, stay out of the way." Luigi ordered.

He took a few steps back and crouched down. He charged up for about ten seconds before blasting off. A small trail of fire ignited behind him as he smashed down the door head first. Splinters and two koopa princes flew left and right. Mario jumped inside to see Roy and Morton laying on the floor.

"Koopalings!" Mario shouted.

"Heh, long time no see, eh plumba'?" Roy stood up.

"Oh my head..." Luigi muttered.

"Shut 'im up Morton." Roy commanded. Morton walked up to Luigi and prepared to smash Luigi when Mario intervened. With a swift kick to the gut, Morton keeled over.

"H-how does a fat plumber like you hit so hard?" Morton coughed. He punched the stunned koopa right between the eyes and knocked him out cold.

"I've been-a kicking koopa butt for almost-a 18 years now. I learned-a thing or two about-a taking you down." Mario smiled.

"Oh yeah? Dere's no way you're gonna beat me by yourself, give it up." Roy smiled.

"Looks like-a Roy's personality hasn't-a changed much." Luigi murmured.

"You're-a right Roy, maybe I can't by myself, but-a Luigi's here." Mario pointed at his taller younger brother.

"Ha, you think you're dweeby little bro is gonna' help you beat me? I've been powa' liftin' and I'll be able to take you down wit' my pinky..." Roy held up his pinky with conceit.

"_Luigi do-a the dance._" Mario whispered as Roy bragged.

"_W-what?"_ Luigi whispered back.

"_Just do it so you can-a distract him. Then I'll deal-a the final blow." _Mario muttered.

"-and dat's anuda reason you can't beat me 'cause..."

"Hey Roy! Watch-a dis." Luigi interrupted the monologue. Luigi started doing his strange dance, though he had no dark magic to use it's effects to it's full potential, it still was rather distracting.

"Wha? You makin' fun a me plumba?" Roy arched eye brow.

Mario slid around Roy while he was entranced, and slightly annoyed, by Luigi's dance. It gave him just enough time to get around back, Roy's weak point stuck out like a sore thumb. Mario lunged out and grabbed Roy by his tail and tugged.

Roy fell on his face surprised while Mario began twirling. At first it was all Mario's strength spinning the big beast of a teenager, then it was all momentum and centrifugal force. Roy screamed for the crazy ride to stop, his sunglasses had long since flown off. Mario timed his release carefully as he let go.

Roy's huge body went flying towards the door to the grand hall that the brothers had cleaned up the previous day. With a huge crunch, the door collapsed under Roy's weight and fell to splinters. Dazed by the intense spinning (as well as the force he struck the door with) Roy and his muscles fell unconscious. On the other side of the door, Iggy and Ludwig were waiting.

"See, vhat did I tell you Iggy?" Ludwig said as he stepped over his brother's unconscious body.

"Hah, it looks like somebody was in a rush this morning." Iggy cracked up laughing when he saw Mario in his pajamas.

"Shut up Iggy, zats probably vhat got Roy smashed zrough a door." Ludwig snapped.

"Okay, okay." Iggy readjusted his focus on the Mario brothers.

"Give-a us the princess you koopa brats!." Mario demanded.

"Yeah, or we will-a um...kick your butts!" Luigi threatened.

"Bring it slim." Iggy cracked an evil grin. Luigi was immediately intimidated and slowly took a few steps back.

"Knock it-a off Luigi, they're only-a kids, you can-a handle'em." Mario tried to coax Luigi back.

"Kids? Mario, they're-a more than-a seven feet tall."

"That hasn't-a stopped me."

"But-"

"Come on-a Luigi, where's-a the man who-a sent King Boo back to where he came from?"

"Ugh, right-a here Mario." Luigi held up his fists and prepared to fight, reluctantly of course.

Iggy jumped down to where Luigi was and swiped at him with his clawed hands. Luigi yelped and jumped backwards. Mario ran over to help, but Ludwig smashed the ground with a super charged ground pound and knocked Mario down with a shock wave.

Mario jumped back up and threw a punch at Ludwig, who actually stumbled backwards from the blow. Mario leaped into the air and tried to stomp Ludwig, though that probably wasn't the best idea. Ludwig snatched Mario out the air and smashed him to the ground.

Luigi was barely keeping up with Iggy's insane and erratic attacks. Worst of all, Iggy liked to stay up close. There was no escaping him, Luigi took three slashes along his back. Luigi winced as tears welled up in his eyes, it stung like no tomorrow. Iggy took another step closer to finish him off when Luigi gave the teen his fire uppercut. Iggy's glasses flung backwards as he flipped twice and landed on his back.

"Go-a Luigi!" Mario cheered in the midst of his fight with Ludwig.

Annoyed, Ludwig tried to smash Mario with another shock wave pound. Unfortunately for the teen, Mario jumped as Ludwig hit the ground, making the shock wave useless. Now helplessly stunned, Mario stomped Ludwig's head over and over again. Luigi used his torpedo attack and slammed Ludwig in the stomach. Out of breath and defeated, Ludwig fell on his back.

"You can't-a beat the Mario brothers." Luigi smiled confidently.

"Know zis, I vill not leave empty handed. You can stop us here, but ve vill attack that small little town until ve find za princess." Ludwig growled in pain.

"Hold-a on, you don't have-a the princess?" Mario cocked his head.

"Vhat do you zink ve're here for?" Ludwig muttered.

"We've been looking all night, for where she's been hiding, but no dice." Iggy winced as he stood up.

"So if that's-a true, then who has-a the-" Mario began.

"Guys! We found Jr. and he says that-uh oh." Larry stopped in mid sentence.

"Spit it out Larry." Ludwig coughed.

"H-he says that the princess has already been taken." Larry finished.

"What!" The room erupted with exclamation.

"He says someone else made off with her, and knocked him out when they made their get away."

"Zat's impossible, no von else vas here vhen ve invaded. How could zey get avay vis za princess totally undetected?" Ludwig shook his head.

"These guys are good, real good." Iggy muttered under his breath.

"Zey had to have left somezing behind. Perhaps foot prints or hair, or even spit for all I care." Ludwig sighed.

"Hey that rhy-"

"Don't say it Iggy." Ludwig caught his younger brother as the words left the tip of his tongue.

"You know, there might be something where Jr. crashed." Larry suggested.

"Zat's a good idea, ve'll begin za investigation zere." Ludwig nodded as they followed Larry.

"Um...excuse-a me, but what-a are you-a doing." Mario asked.

"Ve don't have time to fight over zis, vhats the point if zere's no princess to fight over?" Ludwig muttered.

"Y-you just don't-a quit a big fight like-a that! It's against-a boss fight rules." Mario yelled exasperated.

"But he's-a got a point Mario." Luigi butted in.

"Who's-a side are you on Luigi?" Mario snapped.

"I was just-a saying." Luigi shrugged.

"Vell if you'll excuse us, ve have a crime scene to investigate!" Iggy said with a huff, mocking Ludwig's accent.

"I don't talk like zat." Ludwig muttered as they walked away.

"Hey, you said act my age, what better way to do that than to mimic my superiors." Iggy argued.

"You know that's kind of immature Iggy." Larry shook his head.

"What do you know about being mature? You're only like 11 years old"

"Vell at least he takes his job seriously, remember za time vhen you..."

Mario and Luigi looked at each other. Both visibly tried to suppress their laughter as the bickering teens walked away.

"You're-a right Mario, they are just-a kids." Luigi chuckled. "What do we-a do about Roy and Morton over there?"

"Don't-a worry about them. I-a think that our top-a priority should be to-a find where the-a princess has been taken."

"Where do you-a think we should-a start?" Luigi asked. Mario thought for a moment, then looked at Luigi.

"We start-a where the Koopalings are." Mario replied.

"Mario, you-a know they won't let us-a investigate on-a our own." Luigi said surprised.

"Not unless we-a work out-a deal."

"D-deal? What-a sort of deal do you mean?"

"Just-a play along, I'll think of it as I-a go." Mario muttered.

"Well, you've-a never steered me-a wrong before bro." Luigi shrugged.

"Let's-a go." Mario grinned.

_At the crime scene..._

The eight Koopalings ran back and forth. They tore up the area in search of clues. Though their labors were fruitless, but most of them got a kick out of destroying a room. It wasn't until Lemmy noticed a slim blue object porturding from some of the clown car's wreckage. His lazy eye looked up and down it.

"Wait! Guys, I think I found something..." Lemmy shouted.

"Let me guess, you found a new toy to play vis?" Ludwig rolled his eyes.

"No Ludwig, it looks kind of like twine, blue twine." Iggy muttered.

"That's not_ like_ twine you moron, that's _totally_ hair." Wendy snapped.

"How do you know?"

"It's a girl thing."

"Yeah, right, except on important thing, _you don't have any hair_!"

"Shut up, I _like_ know a piece of hair when I see one."

"All right, _like _little miss 'girl thing' tell me who it belongs to." Iggy grinned.

"It kind of _like _looks like Ludwig's-"

"Well, well, well Ludwig, I should've known." Iggy snapped.

"_Hold on and let me finish!_ It looks like Ludwig's, but it's _like_ thinner and greasier." Wendy stuck out her tongue in disgust.

"You know we should get the DNA of this little puppy and see where it takes us." Iggy smiled.

"Vell, von zing. Our airship is lacking in a DNA scanner, and if we go home empty handed dad'll kill us. So vhere do you plan on getting a DNA scan?" Ludwig argued.

"Dude, do you always have to rain on my parade?" Iggy sobbed.

"Hold it-a right there." Mario called over to the koopalings.

"Oh boy, look, we'd love to fight you and all, but we're trying to solve a mystery here." Larry sighed.

"Actually, we're-a here to help." Mario tried on his most convincing smile as he said this.

"And we should trust you? We're _like _mortal enemies after all." Wendy frowned.

"Look, we-a both want to find the princess. I-a think that if we-a put our resources together, we can-a find her-a faster." Mario explained.

"Don't trust them guys, like Wendy said, they're our enemies." Jr. growled.

"Besides, what happens after we find her?" Iggy arched an eyebrow.

"It's-a everyone for themselves-a, maybe you can-a even redeem yourselves after that-a fight today." Mario bartered.

"Tempting, regain my honor, as vell as having a fair chance at taking za princess, but tell me, vhat 'resources' do you have to offer?" Ludwig asked. Mario didn't know how respond, but Luigi swooped in and saved the day.

"I know someone-a with a DNA scanner you're-a looking for." Luigi smiled. Mario looked at his bro with appreciation.

"Yeah, but how can we still trus-" Lemmy began.

"Did I-a mention that I'll bake cookies later?" Luigi added.

"Count me in!" Lemmy jumped.

"_What!_ Won over by cookies and resources? You guys make me sick, what would Papa say if he was here." Jr. growled.

"Vhat are you going to do about it? Go tell him?"

"Um...yeah!" Jr. pouted.

"Vell do you know how to fly an airship?" Ludwig asked.

"No, but why would I? Papa always hired me a chauffeur if I'm not riding …his...clown car." Jr. trailed off looking at the wreckage that was once his clown car. "That's not fair! The only guys in the family who know how to drive one of those things are _you and Iggy!_"

"Exactly, so I would suggest joining our little quest vis Mario if you vant to get home vis your precious Mama Peach." Ludwig grinned for the first time on the trip, and frankly to most, that wasn't good news.

"So lead the way to th DNA scanner-" Iggy jumped.

"_And _cookies!" Lemmy shouted.

_About ten minutes later, over the Morbid Woods..._

Luigi and Mario rappelled down the sides of the doom ship as Ludwig and Larry eased the ropes down. There was a small cabin sitting in the middle of the seemingly abandoned and the aptly named _Morbid Woods_.

"Are you-a sure he's-a here?" Mario asked unsure of the disturbed environment he was in.

"Of-a course, he's always-a here if he's not-a running his-a cafe." Luigi replied.

"I-a hope for the sake of the-a princess that you're-a right." Mario whispered.

Luigi lightly tapped on the door. There was a sudden shaking and rumbling. Mario took a few steps back, but Luigi stayed. Mario looked at his younger brother with wide eyes. He had never seen Luigi so brave before.

"_Who dare disturbs my-" _A deep booming voice began.

"It's-a us, the-a Mario brothers." Luigi sighed.

"Oh, sorry about that. I'm just trying out my '_Securitron 9000' _to see how well it kept out intruders, did ya feel scared?" E. Gadd chuckled

"I had-a goosebumps." Luigi laughed with him.

"That's great! So what is it you boys need?"He asked.

"First of all, we need-a your permission to let-a in some, um, slightly intimidating guests." Luigi said politely.

"Are they interesting? Do they have character traits that distinguish them from most." E. Gadd ran down his list of questions.

"Oh you-a have no idea." Luigi rolled his eyes.

"Well let'm in!" The old man demanded. Luigi turned around and gave Ludwig a thumbs up.

"Alright ve have za go." Ludwig relayed the message to his siblings. One by one they hooked up to a rope and readied for the jump. Bowser Jr. stayed behind pouting about how he was going to tell Bowser all about their exploits. He was promptly ignored while Ludwig stood over the diving plank.

"Hey, what about Morton and Roy. They're still out cold!" Larry shouted with sudden realization.

"Oh zey'll be fine. Zings'll get interesting vonce ve tell zem ve've joined forces vith za Mario bros zough." Ludwig sighed.

Ludwig let out a high whistle. One by one the koopalings (excluding Roy, Morton, and Bowser Jr.) jumped down the sides of the airship and landed next to the Mario brothers. The door opened and in they went.

Inside E. Gadd's little cabin was much bigger than the outside. A stair case led down into a large laboratory area covered in beakers with chemicals and various machines. Ludwig looked around intrigued by who could own such a remarkable place.

"Ah Luigi, good to see you." E. Gadd welcomed. "And I'm guessing that these are our interesting guests, my you're right they _do _look interesting."

"These are the Koopalings." Luigi tried to put on the same convincing smile that Mario had on earlier. E. Gadd looked over at them. Lemmy waved his arms around, Ludwig was still looking over the room.

"You don't say...my they sure look different in their pictures. Then again my pictures are outdated, perhaps I should take some new ones- now hold on a second, what are you two doing with Bowser's children?" E. Gadd shouted with sudden realization.

"We are-a teaming up to rescue the princess, and we-a need your help." Luigi replied.

"W-what do you need from me then?"

"Ve found a hair sample at the scene of za kidnapping, and ve're wondering if ve can use your DNA scanner?" Ludwig asked.

"A hair sample you say!"

"Yeah, and we want you to compare it to this one." Iggy plucked a hair out of Ludwig's head and held it up. Ludwig threatened to smack Iggy, who shook his finger and mouthed _act your age_. Ludwig reluctantly put his hand back down and looked over at E. Gadd. The old man thought for a moment, lend a helping hand to the Koopalings? He never thought he'd see the day.

"I guess I'll do it, but only because Luigi's here. After all, it's for a good cause." E. Gadd grabbed the two hair samples and walked over to a large machine.

"Zat's you DNA scanner, it's huge!" Ludwig commented.

"No, no of course not, it's my storage system. My DNA scanner's a hand held."E. Gadd shook his head as he typed in a few letters. A small dual screened machine popped out of a hatch on the side of the machine.

"Impressive, I see you have za latest DSi model." Ludwig grinned.

"Yeah, I never leave home without this baby. Not only is it a DNA scanner, it's a digital camera, video game system, mp3 player-"

"-UV lamp, Geiger counter, altimeter, tape measure, and many other useful accessories. Yes I've read about it on za internet."

"I have to admit Luigi, Bowser's kids have good taste." E. Gadd chuckled. "Now on to DNA scanning."

E. Gadd scanned the hairs with the built in camera and downloaded the DNA sequence as well as other foreign materials. He frowned as the results pulled up. looked over at Ludwig with and arched eyebrow.

"Both samples have the exact same DNA sequence, however I must ask, did you find that other hair sample in a shower drain or something because it's absolutely disgusting." He muttered.

"Vhat! Zere's got to be somezing else, scan the foreign materials on the hair." Ludwig demanded.

"Ah yes, good idea." E. Gadd studied the foreign materials meticulously. "Oh my...."

"What is it? Is there the sample of a murder victim on the hair too!?" Iggy shouted.

"N-no, it's something quite different actually. Excuse me, but mister Ludwig, have you ever bent space and reality in your lifetime?"

"Not zat I know of." Ludwig looked confused.

"This other hair sample has AU residue."

"What?" Iggy asked.

"Alternate Universe residue. It's a supernatural phenomenon that occurs when one jumps a universe." E. Gadd explained.

"But zat's just a myth, you know zat's not true! Here, let me see." Ludwig took the DNA scanner and looked over the screen. He saw exactly what the scientist saw, small sparkling traces of AU residue. "No vay, it can't be."

"It is true Ludwig, but I do have the good news slash bad news scenario thought out for you."

"And zat would be?"

"The bad news first, I'm sorry Mario, but your princess is in another Universe. However the good news is that I can take to that same universe using this hair sample's AU residue." E. Gadd smiled.

"How so?"

"With my teleportation device, which I use to get to my office at the local Cafe I own. I can scan the residue and jump to that universe. However, not only have I never tested it before, I've no way to get you back."

"That sucks." Iggy muttered.

"Vait I have an idea, if zose people got to our universe, zen zey should have a vay back."

"Why you people have a genius on your team. So the plan's plain and simple, I send you to that universe to locate the princess, then you can use the same way they got in to get out."

"Before that happens, can we get some of Luigi's cookies, I can't stop thinking about'em." Lemmy piped in.

"Yes Lemmy, we-a can get some cookies before we jump-a universe."

"Great! Can you make choclate chip? I love chocolate chip, though any cookie would work. Do you know how to make them like my mom used to? I remember she had the best!" Lemmy went on and on about cookies.

"Is he-a usually this-a talkative?" Mario asked.

"Only vhen he's excited." Ludwig shrugged.

"Alright, so now you know the plan. Prepare for quite a trip, because I'm pretty sure it's going to be awhile before you get back." E. Gadd warned. "Come back when you're ready okay? And Ludwig, when this whole issue's over, mind if you hang out here sometime. I think you'd be interesting to chat with over some coffee and snacks."

"I'm flattered, of course I'd love to!" Ludwig smiled. Iggy rolled his eyes.

"You forget Ludwig, that we'll be worst enemies with the Mario's again." Iggy brought forth the issue.

"Shut up." Ludwig snapped.

One by one, the Koopalings reboarded the ship. Bowser Jr. waited with the recently awoken Morton and Roy. Both of which were pleasantly surprised that Mario was now on their side. It took Morton, Ludwig, and Iggy to restrain the enraged Roy Koopa, who's pink head had changed to a shade of bright red.

Mario and Luigi steered clear of the insane pink menace. Soon, things calmed down, Mario and Luigi were allowed to walk freely along the deck. As nice as the Koopalings had been so far, the idea of treating Koopalings as allies was still foreign to them, so they stayed close to each other like they always had done before. The clouds raced by as Ludwig and Iggy drove the ship. Mario and Luigi sat on the small bunk beds in the lower levels of the airship.

"I-a hope she's okay." Mario sighed.

"Oh-a Mario, Peach has been through so-a much, this-a shouldn't be-a surprise to her." Luigi said calmly.

"That's-a true, and it can't-a be bad for us either. I mean she's-a been to the moon, and we've-a all gone to a different dimension. You, Peach, Bowser, and I." Mario smiled fondly at the memory.

"You know-a what, Bowser really isn't such-a bad guy whene he's a good guy. He's-a too proud to admit it though." Luigi frowned.

"I-a wonder if the-a princess is-a thinking of us right-a now."

"She probably has her own-a issues to deal with, I-a don't think she's ever jumped a universe before..."

_Meanwhile, in foreign skies..._

Peach's eyes groggily opened. She felt like she had a hangover. When what seemed like ages passed, she finally rose from the bed. The sheets were white with brown stars dotting them. Her eyes looked around the small room she'd been tossed into.

It was dark and dreary, the only light source was the moonlight from the outside. Various toys lay all over the floor in disarray. Music and laughter could be heard coming from behind the door leading into the room.

"What are they doing?" She asked her self as she curiously approached the door. Peach leaned against the door and held her ear against it.

"..._the deed's been done, we fought for the princess and won!" _A high soprano voice sang.

"_The day's ours, the fun's begun!" _A goofy voice joined in.

"_Princess Toadstool's ours and it's going to stay that way, that was a lot of work now it's time for..." _The soprano voice sang again.

"_Play!" _The harmonies joined in with the two lead singers.

Peach suddenly realized they were singing a show tune! She took a few steps back from the door and burst out laughing. Who did these kids belong to? Suddenly the music stopped and foot steps pattered over to the door. Peach tried to stop laughing, but only managed to take it down to light squeaks.

"Eeheowoehe, that's music to my ears!" Kooky exclaimed.

"We've made the princess burst into tears back there, king dad'll be pleased by how rotten we've been." Cheatsy giggled.

"I dunno,"

"But that's kind of mean." Hip and Hop sighed. There was a huge _thump _and groans emanated from the other side of the door.

"You two are gettin' too soft, say somtin' like dat again and I'll beat some sense into ya'!" Bully shouted.

"You know, it's getting kind of late." Kooky yawned

"Yeah and we didn't get any sleep last night..." Cheatsy murmured.

"I think we should..."

"hit the hay." Hip and Hop both yawned.

"Hey Princess! Is my cabin under your hopefully very high expectations? I hope you hate it so much because I don't want you to sleep in my cabin tonight. No way, I like my bed, and my stuff, and my wall paper. You'd like Kootie Pie's way better, it's nice and girly and pink." Bigmouth let loose.

"She's not getting my room! She's staying...in...._yours!" _Kootie Pie screamed.

"Oh never mind Princess, you can't stay in Kootie Pie's. She won't let you, however might I suggest that you ask for Kooky's cabin, it, unlike my messy and horribly dirty cabin, is very clean and organized. Instead of boring old wall paper on the walls, there's good old schematics and blue prints, and all sorts of gizmos lining the wall I'm sure that you'd app-"

"_Shut up!"_ Everyone yelled at Bigmouth. It was so loud that Peach winced behind the door.

"She's sleepin' in your cabin tonight." Bully growled.

"Well where am I going to sleep, huh? You don't expect me to just sleep on the fl-"

"Yes we expect you to sleep on the floor!" Cheatsy snapped.

Peach couldn't help but feel sorry for the kid, his siblings were so rude to him. Not known for being a horribly mean person. Peach sighed and did the unthinkable.

"You know what, um...Bigmouth, that your name?" Peach asked.

"Yes you're highness, princess Toadstool. At your service."

"I think we can share the room." Peach kind of gagged at the thought of sharing a room with one of those kids, but deep down inside she knew that the last thing she needed was to get on their bad side.

"I-, wait did you just say that? Tell me she just said that..." Bigmouth began.

"She said it." Bully sighed. For once, there was silence.

"Um, thanks, y-your highness." Bigmouth uttered probably the shortest sentence in his life.

"He's going talk her ears off all night..." Cheatsy laughed.

"Yeah, shes going to regret that descision." Kooky smiled.

The door clicked open and in stepped that skinny loud mouthed kid. He looked nervously, like Peach's kindness had only been a ruse to lure him into a trap. Peach leaned against the wall and sighed.

"So, P-princess Toadstool-"

"Call me Peach."

"Peach, why're you being nice to me? Is it a trick? I mean, no one's ever nice to me..."

"I could tell Bigmouth, it's against my nature to be anything but nice, so I decided that you needed a good deed most." Peach explained.

"Wow, you really are different. You used to be so cranky and mean. I guess that what Kootie Pie said was true."

"That what's true?" Peach asked.

"That blondes have more fun of course." Bigmouth laughed.

"You know the only time I can remember having brown hair was when your father kidnapped me for the first time. It wasn't my natural color, I dyed it that way because my dad thought blonde hair looked fake and not fit for someone who was to rule the land when they grew up." Peach smiled.

"Oh, I guess you know what it's like having a king dad too, huh." Bigmouth smiled.

"So why do you talk so much? I mean that's why you're siblings are so mean to you."

"It's impulsive, I can't help it. If I get excited, which I usually do, I go on and on about nothing, I repeat every thing I say, every thing I say is repeated when I'm excited. Then no one listens, so I talk more so people will listen. Because it's no fun when people don't listen to what you have to say. It's the only way I can get people to pay att- oh I'm doing it again aren't I." Bigmouth's face turned red.

"Hey it's alright kid, it seems like all of your siblings have they're own little personality flaws." Peach sighed.

"It's part of being a Koopa, there's no way around it." Bigmouth shrugged.

"I guess you should get some sleep, it was nice getting to know my prison warden." Peach smiled.

"Um...yeah....thanks." Bigmouth dashed over to his bed and fell asleep almost instantly.

Peach thought back as she fell asleep herself. She remembered Bowser's real children. Regardless of their rude behavior and the fact that they always kidnapped her, they were still kids. They made interesting conversation and played games with her. Peach smiled as she remembered clocking in hours of Contra and Double Dragon on Ludwig's prized NES. Which he probably still has to this day.

She smiled, the first time all night, and fell asleep at peace.

* * *

**A/N: **Alright, another chapter up, I'm so happy I could sing a show tune myself. This one's quite a bit longer the last, so yeah...

So now I've sort of answered your question on how there's "Kooky _and_ Ludwig." But opened up a whole new set of questions.

By the way, how's my driving? Tell me in your reviews if you feel so inclined, thanks for reading so far!


	3. Mirror, Mirror, on the wall

**Disclaimer: *sigh* Mario and related characters to not belong to me **

* * *

Peach huffed as she crawled up a long winding, rocky trail. Her arms were sore and her dress was slightly torn. Mario was just ahead, laughing and gesturing for her to climb further. Peach couldn't move up another bit, her arms felt like they'd give way any moment.

"How'd I end up here?" Peach asked herself. She really couldn't remember at all. Why? Well she remembered something about Toadsworth and Luigi, but not quite why she left them behind to be with Mario. She needed to tell Mario something, but she couldn't remember. It was weird, like she needed to wait for something before she could say it.

"Come on-a Princess, it's just up ahead!" Mario ran down to where she was resting. Peach looked up to him, his hand outstretched.

She didn't care where up ahead was, as long as it meant the climbing stopped. She grabbed hold and felt herself being carried up the hill. Quite a nice change of pace for her exhausted arms. In no time they reached the top, and oh what a sight it was to behold.

The explosion of cream orange sunset and the ocean waves that reflected it stole her breath only moments after she reached the top. Funny how she had lived near this cliff her whole life, and never once had she seen this overlook. That rough mountain trail behind her was the only thing that held her back.

"What do you-a think Princess? Worth the effort?" Mario asked.

"Y-yeah, but please tell me what's going on? Why'd you take me up there Mario?" Peach replied, but no answer. "Mario?"

Peach turned to the plumber, his face totally blank. She shook him by the shoulders, but he didn't respond to anything. Frightened, she took a step back and tried to think of a solution. Suddenly, Mario grabbed her by the wrist. She screamed in shock, something was horribly wrong. She reached down and tried to pry Mario's hand off of her wrist, but it wasn't Mario's hand. In fact, it was a clawed hand.

"What's wrong Princess? Don't you love me? Ehehehowoh."

She immediately recognized that high pitched cackle. The princess looked up at Mario, only to find it was Kooky von Koopa dressed in Mario's trademark hat and overalls. Too many thoughts ran through her mind at once, finally she went with a ditch effort plan and kicked the laughing teenager in between the legs. His eyes bugged out as she slipped from his grasp. Kooky let out a roar of pain. A roar, something she didn't quite expect from the prissy koopa.

With only running on the mind, she had forgotten that the only way down was either to climb down the trail or fall. She got down on her stomach and began crawling backwards down the mountain trail. Unfortunately, Kooky quickly returned and grabbed her by the wrists again. Somehow the little teenager was able to pull her up and above his head with uncanny strength.

"Where are you taking me you...you...Koopa Brat!" She snapped.

"Oh you'll see, you'll see." Kooky replied.

Peach struggled as he carried over to the cliff side, the thought of him throwing her over entered her mind. She kicked and punched, but it did nothing to hinder the progress of the Koopaling. Kooky threw her to the ground and forced Princess Peach to look over the edge of the cliff. Her head dangled over the edge as Kooky cackled even more.

The princess gasped as she saw the ocean. It was now a giant framed mirror, it's pristine glass showing a giant reflection of the cliff. Peach had to double take. However as her head turned back, the scene in the mirror was different.

Her hair was its former dark brown instead of blonde and now she was wearing a satin cloak. In the reflection it was no longer Kooky who held her over the cliff, but the real Ludwig von Koopa, sort of. He was somehow different. Physically he was probably older, but there was some sort of evil in his eyes that scared her the most.

She looked behind her, and saw indeed it was him. He grinned and shoved her over the cliff. A deep, sinister laugh echoed across the entire ocean as she plummeted. Peach struck the giant mirror head first and crashed through, falling through into a dark abyss.

_Alternate Mushroom Kingdom: Approx. 1:00 P.M._

Peach gasped for air as she awoke, tears streamed down her face. _Just a dream, that was just a dream_.She tried to make sense of just what happened. That cliff was exactly like the one back at home, but Mario never showed her anything like that before. And what was Ludwig Von Koopa doing there? Of all people, he was probably not even involved with Kooky and his stupid antics.

Her hands stroked her hair nervously, a habit she had ever since she was young. Mario, mirrors, Kooky, Ludwig, and that cliff. It was all too real, yet obviously fake. What did it mean?

"Grmm, don't touch that, 'ts my cake." A voice growled, it was right next to princess Peach.

"Eeep!" Princess Peach jumped up, surprised by the sudden appearance of a new voice.

"Ack! What happened, are we under attack? Red alert, red alert! Turn on the bat signal, call the police, call your mothers, say your prayers!" Bigmouth sprang awake and squeezed Peach's leg with genuine fear.

"Bigmouth?" Peach asked.

"Oh, good morning, guten morgen, how goes it Princess? What are you doing up so early huh? It's like One P.M." Bigmouth smiled.

"Um...what are you doing down there?"

"Well you see, I was going to sleep, when I had this really weird nightmare about a mirror! I woke in the middle of the night scared out of my wits and ran to the next nicest place on the ship, next to you! So now here we are talking about good mornings and bad nights." Bigmouth replied, then took a deep breath.

"Wait, did you say you had a nightmare about a mirror?" Peach asked.

"Yeah, it was showing me weird and scary things that I don't really remember. Anyways, eventually someone pushed me into it and I broke it. There was glass ever where and it was all dark! I couldn't believe how dark it was, I couldn't even see my hands. And it went on forever and forever until I woke up." Bigmouth explained.

"Who pushed you in?"

"I dunno, he looked kinda like Kooky though, like he's his cousin or something. Or maybe one of my uncles, what if I do have an uncle like that? He's a mean uncle if he's anything like the one in my dream, maybe that's why King Dad never talks about his brothers and sisters when we ask, he just yells at us and tells us to do our chores. Hey Princess, whats wrong? You listening to me? Princess? Princess!?"

_This has to be a coincidence, please let it be a coincidence, otherwise it's something serious. _Peach thought to herself desperately.

"Sorry about that, it's just that I...never mind." Peach shook her head.

"Hey look outside! We're landing, hooray we're finally landing! I can't wait to get back to my room and feed my fish, I love my fish. One's named Sparky and the other's Lilly. I'd have more, but Lilly ate all her eggs and Sparky eats any other fish I put in the tank! Hey, hey, do wanna see my fish when you get the chance Princess? Oh wait, hold on we're supposed to put you in the dungeon, maybe I'll bring the fish to you while you wait. That's a good plan, right Princess?"

"Huh, yeah sounds great." Peach said with fake enthusiasm, she had too much on her mind to care about fish. If these were the "Koopalings" that meant that there was also a "Bowser." And if these kids looked like this, what would "Bowser" look like? She really didn't want to find out.

"Knock Knock!" Bigmouth's door burst open, Bully and Kooky ran in and grabbed Peach by her arms and legs.

"What the! Put me down you-you Koopa brats!" Peach felt a sickly sense of Deja Vu as they carried her away.

"She can walk you know! If she couldn't, she probably have a wooden walking stick or something, I hope she'd pick a mahogany walking stick. That'd make my day because my door frame's made out of mahogany! I bet you didn't know that Kooky did ya! Yep, nice old mahogany. Then again what if she had a wheel chair instead? I'm not a fan of wheels, ever since that one wheel ran over my foot-"

"Shudap Bigmouth, we don' need any a dis yammerin' da whole way dere." Bully snapped at Bigmouth.

"Yeah, why don't you go get the twins or something?" Kooky suggested.

"But I hate getting the twins, they just laugh at me and then try to stuff dirty socks down my throat! I hate dirty socks, where would they get dirty socks any ways? I mean we don't wear shoes, why would any of us own socks?"

"Ask da twins dat when you find'em." Bully replied frustrated. Peach tried to fight her way out of the situation, but things did not fare well. Soon they exited the ship, and standing at the docks was a huge green behemoth. So this was "king dad," however the only sign of any regal status you could see was the crown atop his head.

"Ha ha ha ha, great job Koopalings on finding that princess." The King said in his leathery sand paper voice.

"Oh boy..." Peach sighed to herself.

_E. Gadd's Laboratory, Normal Mushroom Kingdom universe: approx. 1:00 A.M._

Whilest everyone's favorite Princess was going to meet the stuff of nightmares, our heroes were busy getting set for their universal jump. They clocked in hours of testing and preparation, but still Gadd was not happy with the results that were turning up from his music powered Teleportation device (or Switchagroove, as he called it).

Every time he sent something through, such as a camera or a tracking beacon, it would seem to disappear from existence. Now as you could probably guess, this did not bode well in the eyes of those that were supposed to actually step in and get blasted across a universe.

"I don't think this is safe at all, maybe we should find a different way through." E. Gadd finally caved in.

"No, we-a don't have time. Who knows what-a crazy things those-a creeps are doing to Peach as we-a speak." Mario replied.

"Oh Mario, can't it-a wait a little bit? We're all exhausted." Luigi yawned.

"Luigi, there's-a no time for rest." Mario snapped.

"Zen I guess it's now or never, vhat do you guys zink?" Ludwig shook his head.

"Do wha?" Morton grumbled, recently stolen from his pleasant nap.

"_Like_, if we don't go in, daddy will _like_ kill us anyways." Wendy pointed out.

"She's got a point, I guess we're going, whether we like it or not." Larry sighed, a little bit frightened.

"Are you sure you want to go through with this? You go in, I have no contact with you whatsoever, you'll be on your own."

"Oh is that all?" Iggy laughed.

"Well, worst case scenario is that every last molecule in your body would slowly and painfully dissolve in the jump, thus wiping you from existence." E. Gadd adjusted his glasses nervously.

"What? I ain't goin in dat ting, it's gonna kill me." Roy snapped at the scientist.

"Oh don't worry, chances of it happening are like one in a million, or was it a million to one? I can't quite remember..."

"Don't remember! Now I-a normally trust you-a professor, but being obliterated isn't on-a my to-do list." Luigi replied shaking. Soon the whole room was complaining about not wanting to die, all except one rather cranky and cantankerous teen who had been rudely awoken only moments ago.

"Just fire up the machine, jump in, and pray to the stars we don't die." Morton shouted. The room hushed.

"Morton's right, let's go in right now before we change our minds." Ludwig nodded.

"Alright, but you guys better pray hard, cause there are so many things I'm yet to do in life." Iggy muttered.

"It's settled then, fire up the machine professor!" Lemmy exclaimed with zeal.

"Right, so what do you kids prefer as far as music goes? I have to play something to get this machine going." Gadd said as he sat next the phonograph bell jutting out of the Switchagroove.

"Classic anyzing for me, even classic rock vill do." Ludwig replied.

"Techno or electronica!" Lemmy butted in.

"Pfft, none a dat junk, we're listenin' to da good ol' blues if we're listenin to anytin." Roy grumbled.

"I should've just kept my mouth shut." E. Gadd sighed to himself. "Hey guys! How about I just hit the shuffle button and see what happens okay?"

"Whateva'" Roy scoffed.

E. Gadd pressed a couple buttons on the Switchagroove console and pressed enter. The room dropped to dead silent as the music on the machine whirred to life. Fog began to spew from the phonograph bell as strobe lights flashed to life. Strange and mysterious music began to play. Soon a small portal opened up in the center of the room as a slow melodic violins played in the back.

"Hey! I've heard this song on a movie before." Iggy instantly recognized the tune.

"Which vone?" Ludwig asked

"I can't remember, it had that one guy in it, you know? That actor I hate."

"Ahem." Mario coughed.

"Oh right the portal ..."

"You guys know how this works, just pretend that you're throwing the camera into the portal again, except this time just throw yourselves in." E. Gadd instructed. "Oh, and please, one at a time. There could be some unpleasant side effects if two go in at once."

"Like what?"

"Oh, there was this time I stepped in with a fly, and the results for that were catastrophic, however that's a story for a different time." Gadd replied.

"So uh, who's first?" Iggy asked. Nervous looks quickly scattered across the room, that was a very good question.

"Cowabunga!" Lemmy finally broke the silence and dove in head first.

Luigi came next, he reluctantly stepped inside. Next came Mario, then Wendy, after that Larry. Morton closed his eyes and jumped in like a kid about to jump in a pool. Larry and Bowser Jr. went soon after that. Now it was just Ludwig, Iggy, and Roy. Iggy looked around, still apprehensive about stepping into the portal.

"You know what, what happens if this doesn't work right? I mean, what are the chances of me losing a tooth or something? Will I be missing an eye when I step through or what, please someone-_gah!" _Iggy was cut off by Roy, who picked him up by the hair and tossed him down the portal.

"Go on Roy, you next." Ludwig tapped his foot impatiently.

"Ladies first." Roy bowed with faux-elegance.

"Ah yes, vhat a gentleman." Ludwig grabbed Roy by the arms. "But I insist, you first." Ludwig flicked Roy's sunglasses down the portal.

"Hey no fair!" Roy turned around and dove in to grab his pride and joy.

Ludwig took one glance behind him before he jumped in, this was probably going to be the last time in awhile that he was going to be able to savor this universe. Sure he had been away from home before, but none of that compared to leaving that universe entirely.

"Go in Ludwig, they're waiting on you!" E. Gadd shooed. Ludwig nodded and stepped inside.

The first thing Ludwig noticed was that everything was a sky blue color, second thing he noticed, he was suspended in free fall. His body span around rapidly, his insides felt they were churning. He was about ready to throw up when suddenly some sort of scenery began to appear. The spinning slowly halted to a stop.

_Alternate Mushroom Kingdom 2:00_

The blue area around the portal had brought them to an old, dark and stormy castle, it's spires reaching endlessly into the sky. Where ever they were, it was a lot like home. Finally the process was complete and Ludwig felt the side effects of being thrown across a Universe and fell to his knees ready to vomit.

"Hold it in big guy, take deep breathes and let it pass over." Iggy helped Ludwig up.

"Are ve alive?" Ludwig asked.

"Trust-a me, you'd-a know if you weren't." Mario replied.

"Guys this is nuts! Look at this place, it's almost like back home. I'd recognize that dead tree anywhere." Lemmy smiled as he ran around like a hyper active little puppy.

"Oh my gosh, it _is_ back home." Morton face palmed himself frustrated.

"This proves one thing, and one thing only." Iggy stared at Ludwig. Ludwig arched an eyebrow, then rolled his eyes.

"I have no part in any murders or kidnappings." Ludwig growled annoyed.

"I didn't say you were a part of any murders or kidnappings did I? Unless that means you feel guilty about it!"

"Oh shut up, I'm not guilty of anyzing."

"Yeah? So how do you explain the DNA sample, it matched yours. And the only chance of it matching perfectly is that you'd have an identical twin or something."

"Let's-a look around before we make-a hasty decisions." Luigi stood between the two teens.

"Yes, let's." Iggy muttered as they walked to the castle.

It didn't take long for something truly out the ordinary to happen. The team found themselves wandering down a fairly familiar dimly lit hallway when a little voice could be heard grumbling on and on about something or other.

"Hide." Mario mouthed as they all crammed themselves into broom closet. However, Ludwig had been shoved out. With no time to crawl back in, Ludwig dove to the shadows while the person grumbling rounded the corner.

"Stupid old man, I am the Emperor of Eavesdropping, the Duke of Deception, _not _his maid. I should be with him guarding the Princess." A short spiky blue haired child ranted.

"Hey did hear that, he knows where the Princess is." Lemmy whispered excitedly.

"Shush." The group snapped at Lemmy, unfortunately this is extra noise attracted their new visitor.

"What the? Who goes there?" The now suspicious visitor asked. Ludwig froze in place, he could not let this kid see him. Stealth was something they needed in order to infiltrate the castle successfully and find the Princess in this unfamiliar place.

The kid stepped closer to Ludwig, his eyes squinting to see in the dark of the shadows. He rubbed his eyes and did a double take.

"Kooky is that you? What are you doing over there?" Cheatsy Koopa asked.

"Vhat?" Ludwig asked.

"Are you okay? Your voice sounds kind of funny." Cheatsy cocked his head.

"Oh, I zink I'm coming down vis a cold or somezing, yes very sick." Ludwig faked a coughing fit.

Cheatsy, being one who hates lying unless he's the one doing it, walked over to Ludwig sitting on the ground. Ludwig didn't move a muscle, suddenly the kid leaned over him. Ludwig had no time to move before the kid saw him.

"Kooky! What have you done to yourself?" Cheatsy gasped.

"Um, I don't know exactly vhat you're talking about." Ludwig looked around confused, he didn't expect this reaction.

"What invention went wrong this time?" Cheatsy shook his head.

"Invention? Vhat invention?" Ludwig asked.

"A major case of amnesia too! Quick, we have to see King Dad." Cheatsy grabbed Ludwig's hand and dragged him away.

Larry was first to poke his head out of the broom closet, the coast was clear. One by one they filed out into the hallway.

"Who was that?" Larry asked confused.

"I dunno, but he recognized Ludwig." Lemmy scratched his chin thoughtfully.

"More evidence to support my theory!" Iggy clasped his hands together and smiled.

"Now don't jump to-a conclusions, remember Ludwig didn't recognize him at all." Luigi pointed out.

"Well we ain't gonna find out sittin around here, follow dat kid!"

_Meanwhile_

Cheatsy led Ludwig down the halls, all the while rambling on about Ludwig testing some new invention and the side effects turned him into what he is right now. He also insisted on calling him Kooky, whoever that was. Finally they stopped at a big green door, Cheatsy quickly banged on it.

"What? I'm busy in here." King Koopa snapped.

"King Dad, it's horrible, something's happened to Kooky." Cheatsy jumped up and down.

"Horrible? Come in." Koopa growled. Cheatsy pulled open the door and dragged Ludwig inside.

Ludwig studied his surroundings carefully. Blood red flags with the royal koopa family insignia inscribed on them hung from the ceiling. Sitting in a large brass throne was a giant green monster that vaguely resembled his father. On his right, was a large tarp draped over a tall object, on his left was...

"Princess?" Ludwig asked surprised.

"Ludwig?" Peach replied surprised and terrified all at the same time. Images of him throwing her off a cliff returned, that sinister laugh ringing in her ears.

"What in the name of all things rotten happened to you?" King Koopa nearly jumped out his shell when he saw Ludwig.

"Vell, I vas valking down za hall and zen zis kid right here grabs me and tells me I screwed up an invention." Ludwig replied.

"I barely recognize you too Kooky." Cheatsy muttered.

"For za last time, my name's not Kooky, it's Ludwig von Koopa. I zink zere's been quite a mistake." Ludwig said to King Koopa.

"A mistake, I'll tell you what the mistake was, your invention. Look what it's done to you!" King Koopa replied exasperated. "I think I need to consult the mirror on this one."

"Mirror!" Peach gasped.

Koopa turned towards the tarp next to him and tore it down. A tall six foot mirror with pristine glass and blue embroidery sat on a stand. Peach stared into it, that dream was all she could think of.

"Mirror, mirror, on the wall, _wake the heck up I have a question!_" Koopa snapped. A dark silhouette appeared in mirror, much to the surprise of Ludwig and Peach.

"Yes, your Majesty?" A womanly voice sighed.

"Mirror, can you fix my son?" Koopa asked. The figure in the mirror turned and looked at Ludwig.

"Fix him? What's to fix?" The mirror giggled.

"E-everything! Look at him, he's clean cut and so...fat." Koopa shouted at the mirror.

"Oh your majesty, he looks so much better with a little meat on his bones."

"Um...I'm still here, and it's not just fat, zere's some muscle and shell in zere too." Ludwig growled red faced with embarrassment.

"What a sexy accent too! Your majesty, I don't think I can change him. I like Kooky like this." The silhouette turned to King Koopa.

"No way! The deal was I bring you this here Princess and you grant my every desire. Now grant it!" Koopa snapped.

"Ugh, can I add keeping him like this to our deal?"

"No change him back!"

Ludwig sighed over the two bickering over him. He didn't even know them and yet they were fighting over his appearance. It sounded like when his mom and dad argued over his long hair when he was little. That was besides the point however, these two were distracted, and maybe distracted enough for him to escape, with a princess.

He slipped over to the Princess, careful not to make any sudden movements. Ludwig looked in Peach's eyes when he finally reached her, she was terrified. Of what exactly, he had no idea, but when he reached over to undo the ropes binding her arms, she shoved him off.

"_No." _She mouthed to him.

"Hey calm down, it's me, Ludwig, remember?" Ludwig whispered.

"That's exactly why I don't want to come with you."

"No I'm not here to kidnap you, I'm here to get you back home."

"Stay away from me."

Ludwig was confused with the Princess' behavior. She didn't act like this even when she had been kidnapped before. He reached down to undo the ropes again anyways, he'd have to get her out of here by force.

"Whoa! Stop him." The mirror suddenly shouted. Ludwig felt a strong hand grab him by the back of his neck.

"I told you he needs to be turned back, he's probably a good guy now." Koopa snapped.

"As much as I like you this way Kooky, you can't have that Princess, I need her. So why don't you be a good little Koopaling and get out of here. Why don't you go zap your siblings with that little invention of yours m'kay?" The mirror sighed.

Koopa was about to argue, when his throne room doors burst open. His kids ran in out of breath. Bigmouth was screaming at the top of his lungs about intruders while the twins ran around in terror. The biggest surprise however, was that Kooky also entered the room.

"King Dad we have something important to tell you!" Kooky yelped.

"Wait, if that's Kooky, then who's this?" The mirror asked.

"Hey he's that guy from my dream! I didn't know we were going to have a family reunion or something. If I had known, I would've made pudding. I don't know what kind, but I would've made pudding. Maybe rice pudding, but then again-"

"Shut up Bigmouth, that is an imposter! A bad imposter too, Ehehowowhe." Kooky cackled. "He clearly missed my Adonis body and my curly locks."

"Yeah you look like a Kooky wannabe, and dats sayin sometin." Bully sniggered.

"Well, well, well, I should've know that no invention could make that little kook attractive." The mirror shrugged.

"You think tubby here's attractive? Well I have to say you have a weird taste in men." King Koopa laughed. Ludwig was red faced with anger and embarrassment. He hadn't been bugged this much about his appearance since his Boarding School days.

"Silence nave! I mean..." The mirror tried to correct itself when Bigmouth interrupted.

"Attention everyone who's a koopa, intruders_ in the castle! _Please come on, there's a ton of them and only one of me so it would much appreciated if..."

"Yeah we get the idea Bigmouth."Cheatsy rolled his eyes.

"Oh yeah forgot about them." Kooky chuckled nervously.

"It looks like Mario's wit dem, I tink dey're here for da princess." Bully reported.

"Mario!? How'd that pasta sucking plumber find out about this Princess getting kidnapped? She's not even Princess Toadstool."

"Wha?" The Koopalings gasped.

"B-b-b-but that has to be her. Her last name is Toadstool, and I know for a fact that she's a princess..." Bigmouth blubbered incoherently.

"You seriously thought this witch was Princess Toadstool? That's a laugh." Koopa scoffed.

"I knew she was too nice to me." Bigmouth sighed to me.

"She did act kinda weird and-" Hop sighed

"Her hair's blonde!" Hip exclaimed

"Shut up and mobilize attack! Get those intruders and throw them into the dungeon." Koopa commanded.

"What about him?" Bully pointed to Ludwig.

"Yeah, what about him?" Bigmouth's asked.

"He's staying with me." The silhouette in the mirror stroked Ludwig's reflection. Ludwig jumped in shock as he felt invisible hands caress the back of his head.

"Well what are we waitin for? Let's get dis over wit." Bully snapped

Just outside the throne room, our heroes rounded a corner and came across a large green door. They cautiously stepped over to the door, ready for anything, but at the same time ready for nothing. There was shouts and screams about attack formations before the throne room door burst open with a squad of seven little monsters attacking. Fortunately, they outnumbered the squad nine to seven. They dispatched most of them with relative ease. Unfortunately, the opposing force also had a little trick up their sleeves.

"Ehehoeoheeh, so intruders you think you have us beat?" An annoying high pitched laugh filled the halls.

"I'm guessing your supposed to be Kooky." Iggy sighed.

"Why how did you know?"

"Lucky guess."

"Really? Well it doesn't matter if you know my name, because I am a gen-i-us and I have the perfect plan to take you down!" Kooky tugged a rope. There was a loud clink as a cage crashed down and trapped the team behind bars.

"Whoa, I didn't see that coming." Lemmy whispered.

"How'd you know to set that up in advance?" Morton said, for once in his life surprised.

"A new trick a magic mirror taught me, she said if I concentrate hard enough, I can make what's called 'a plot hole.' Pretty neat huh?" Kooky explained.

"Yeah cool, _now let us out of this rickety old cage!!_" Wendy screeched, Kooky fell down in surprise.

"Sorry, but King Dad's calling the shots around here. And he has special plans for you intruders." Kooky grunted as he struggled to stand up again.

"That's right! We have orders to toss you in the dungeon-"

"Then we'll ask if can throw you into the lava pits!" Hip and Hop sneered.

"Aw, I wanted to try out the new Piranha pool." Cheatsy grumbled.

"Well there's nine of 'em, I can't see why we don't spread the love." Bully shrugged.

Luigi passed out cold as they drawled on about their execution methods. Iggy tried to bash open the cage in a mad attempt to escape, but the bars proved too strong for him to crash. Soon the whole cage was in an uproar, everyone banged on the cage in hopes of knocking it down. Kooky just laughed at their insane attempts to escape.

"Hey will you shut them up! That racket is getting on my nerves!" King Koopa bellowed from his throne room.

"Right away King Dad!" Kooky saluted. He sifted around in his wild hair and pulled out a small box with a wind up crank on the side. He wound up the side and tossed over to the cage and covered his ears.

"Oh my gosh it's gonna blow!" Jr. shrieked as a ticking noise clicked its way out of the small box. Everyone in the cage spiraled into hysteria.

"Everyone I have plan!" Iggy shouted, the cage calmed down, desperate even for his advice. "Alright, I'll stand in that corner, and everyone else will shield me from the blast!"

"Now way you little twerp!" Roy snapped.

"Yeah, if anything I should be in the corner." Wendy scoffed.

"Well I'm Papa's favorite, and he wouldn't like it if I was hurt in an explosion."

"Um guys." Larry whispered.

"I'm getting the corner, after all I'm the smallest and funniest, you can't live without comedic relief!" Lemmy ignored Larry.

"Guys..."

"Since I'm da next oldest, I should get da corner." Roy snapped.

"Hey, I'm the oldest after Ludwig!" Lemmy shouted.

"Okay, let me refrain dat, since I'm tougha den da next oldest, I should get da corner."

"_Guys will you shut your faces for one freakin second!" _Larry bellowed red faced. The cage hushed immediately. "Now listen, do you hear that?"

"No, I don't hear nothin'" Roy replied.

"Wait I hear it." Iggy perked up his head. "It sounds like chimes."

Sure enough, everyone began hearing chimes. They all stared at the small box and laughed. It wasn't a bomb, it was music box. Of all things to throw at them, a music box. Of course things aren't what they seem.

"You know what, I'm starting to get a little woozy." Lemmy yawned.

"Yeah so am I." Larry rubbed his eyes.

"Ah man up you wimps, I-" Roy suddenly collapsed.

"Yipes! What the heck just happened?" Iggy stumbled backwards.

"He-he's asleep." Mario yawned.

One by one, everyone collapsed. Iggy fought to keep his eyes open, but the enchanted music box quickly took its toll. They were going to be slaughtered like pigs, and they were going to sleep through the whole thing. Iggy laughed out of sudden dementia and knocked out cold.

"The deed's been done King Dad."Cheatsy gave his father a thumbs up.

"Ah that's much better, peace and quiet." King Koopa slumped into his throne. "Now magic mirror, what is it you needed this princess for."

"You'll see once the Ceremony begins."

"Ceremony!?" Ludwig and Peach jumped.

"Well I wouldn't commission someone to kidnap a princess for fun would I? I need you for my special Ceremony, that's all." The mirror replied.

"I refuse to be a part of any absurd Ceremony." Peach snapped.

"But Princess you have no choice, absurd or not, it's going to happen."

"No way, you can't force me to do anything, I'll die before I do any thing for you."

"Do you really mean that? What about your friends, would you so easily abandon them for your selfish needs?" The mirror asked. Peach glared at the mirror, using her friends against her was quite a cheap trick. "Oh your bluffs are so easy to call princess, you really shouldn't mess with forces much stronger than yourself."

"Now about that whole 'you give me my hearts desire' deal." King Koopa began.

"In good time, once we start the ceremony I'll give you what you so desperately desire."

"When does it start huh? I'm getting impatient here."

"You need to get the proper paraphernalia to start."

"Proper parapherwhat?"

"Special materials that power this ceremony, you probably already have them."

"Okay what do we need?"

"Some chalk, the princess, and a satin cloak." The mirror replied.

"Really is that all?"

"You need someone who can draw fairly well too, we need some exact chalk designs."

"Well you heard the mirror Koopalings, get to work!"

"Yes King Dad!" The kids replied in unison and ran off.

Peach looked at Ludwig with regret, she had thrown away her only chance of escape, just because of some stupid dream. Little by little, the kids returned with the requested items. Finding the cloak had to be the hardest, but fortunately Kootie Pie was a master seamstress and was able to make something out of old drapes and the embroidery of a jewelry box.

"Good, good, now take me to a wide open room, the main hall just outside the throne room will do." The voice in the mirror said with excitement, it had been waiting for this ceremony for a long while. Instantly Koopa grabbed the mirror and carried it off, the other Koopalings snatched Peach and dragged her out.

"What are you waiting for tubby? Get your tail in here, I don't trust you alone." King Koopa grumbled at Ludwig.

"I'm not going anyvhere vis you and zat mirror." Ludwig replied.

"Face me towards him." The mirror commanded. Koopa obeyed and turned the mirror over to Ludwig, the silhouette grabbed Ludwig by the hair and tugged.

Ludwig yelped as his head was pulled forward. He struggled with the invisible force gripping his hair, but there was nothing he could do. Koopa carried the mirror into the main hall, Ludwig painfully followed.

"Set me down over there, in the center." Koopa set the mirror down gently. "Good, now you kids, yeah you, draw this chalk design on the floor around here."

"Yes ms. Magic Mirror-"

"We're on it!" Hip and Hop grabbed chalk and began to scribble the design shown to them.

"Now you princess, put on that Satin cloak."

"No way."

"Force it on her." The mirror sighed.

"Eeheheoweh, right away!" Kooky snatched the cloak while Bully held the Princess down. The cloak slid on like a glove, much to the dismay of the princess.

"Now bring her over here, yes that's it."

The kids put her in front of the mirror, where the Silhouette grabbed Peach by the arms and held her still. Mean while Hip and Hop began finishing the chalk designs. Everything was falling into place. Peach struggled with the silhouette's grip, but there was nothing she could do. The mirror began chanting a mantra, the chalk lines on the floor began to glow. The room began to quake, throwing most everyone to the floor.

Ludwig managed to stand back up, just in time to see the mirror begin to crack...

* * *

**A/N:** Sorry about the late update. I had this chapter in my notebook ready to go, but I decided I wasn't happy with it, so I held on to it a little longer. Yeah, I'm probably just going to throw away the old notebook and start writing new chapters from this point on now...

Oh and thank you all for the reviews and favs, you don't know how motivating it is to look in your inbox and see a positive new review or that someone faved the story. =)


	4. Send in the Treble Squad

**Disclaimer:**I own nothing Nintendo related in this chapter or this story for that matter

* * *

An ear shattering explosion shook the room with the force of a tidal wave. The cage holding the new captives was thrown off their sleeping bodies. Glass and shrapnel flew left and right. The very foundation of the castle began shaking, rocking the building back and forth. The alternate universe koopalings ran left right, screaming their heads off. The room was spinning, literally. Ludwig felt like he might just vomit right then and there. Even amongst all the chaos, the magic of the music box kept the prisoners sleeping soundly.

"What's the meaning of all this! M-make it stop!" King Koopa shouted as he collapsed.

Then, as sudden as it began, it stopped. Ludwig desperately tried to correct his balance, but only managed to stand up straight for no more than a minute before falling down. His shaky legs barely helped him back up, he leaned against a wall for support.

In the center of the room, stood a figure cloaked in satin. Chain like tendrils were protruding out of it's limbs, like strings on a puppet. The chains themselves were linked back to the mirror, which was only a few feet behind it.

"Oh baby is it good to be back!" The figure cackled. It was Princess Peach's body, but it was the voice of the mirror that exited her lips.

"P-princess Toadstool?" Bigmouth asked, almost speechless.

"Nave! How dare you speak to me like that!" The figure snapped.

"Like what your royal princessy highness?"

"Do not dare refer to me as 'Princess' I am no princess!"

"Den what are you?" Bully growled.

"I...am the great and powerful sorceress, Queen Hemlock!" Hemlock's voice seemed to strike down the to koopa princes with the force of hurricane winds.

"Right-o, yes ma'am, you are no princess!" Bigmouth replied sheepishly.

Hemlock stared down at the trembling teenagers and grinned, only half the ritual was done, and already she could feel her powers returning. She limped forward, the chains on the mirror put one foot in front of the other, the mirror hovered close behind, acting as a giant martinet. Everyone in the room nervously backed away, frightened and curious all at the same time.

"Hey where do you think you're going!" Koopa snapped. Hemlock froze, her head turned to the angry monarch. "You still haven't granted my wishes!"

"Oh how could I be so forgetful, please, make your wish." Hemlock replied in a voice that was so sweet, it was sick.

"Finally! I wish to be the greatest ruler in the world!" King Koopa exclaimed.

"Your wish is my command." She grinned.

Hemlock pointed her index finger at the eager Koopa. The room darkened as she muttered an incantation. With the flick of her wrist, a green lightning bolt flashed out of her hand and struck King Koopa. The room exploded in a brilliant flash of colors, green smoke flooded the air. Slowly the air cleared, and in place of Koopa, was a small wooden board.

"Where'd he go!" Kooky gasped.

"That's him, right there." Hemlock picked up the small board. "He wished to be the worlds greatest ruler, and you will never go wrong when you measure with this ruler." She handed the ruler to Kooky and cackled.

"Turn him back! Right now!" Kootie pie demanded.

"Oh that's out of the question, you see he's all used up. Totally useless to me now." She replied.

"W-what about us!" Cheatsy yelped.

"Don't fret child, in fact I've already got a job for you."

"We'll do whatever you say, just don't zippty zap us into little wooden boards okay?" Bigmouth cried out.

"Your first duties as my new servants are make sure that no one gets in or out of this building." Hemlock commanded.

"Yes ma'am!" The kids reluctantly saluted her in unison and ran off.

"Now to deal with you." She turned towards Ludwig, only glared back.

"Deal vis me? And how do you propose to do zat?" He growled.

"That is a question I still need to answer." Hemlock folded her arms.

She studied Ludwig with her bright yellow eyes. A quick glimmer in her eyes told him that she had something up her sleeves. Of course before she could do anything, a huge crash made them both jump. A clanging and banging echoed down the large halls of the castle. Bigmouths unmistakeable voice screeched for help.

"Perhaps you'll just have to wait Ludwig, I've got company." Hemlock frowned.

Ludwig watched the frustrated queen disappear, leaving him to his own devices. The first thing that came to mind was his sleeping siblings, all piled up in the corner of the room. He shouted and yelled at them, but they still wouldn't budge. Frustrated he grabbed Iggy and slapped his unconscious face. The only thing that it accomplished was that it left a red bruise on a sound asleep koopa.

More banging echoed from down the hall, this time much closer. Whoever was at this castle wasn't happy. Ludwig looked around frustrated, his mind raced trying to think of a solution. Suddenly, the door was smashed down with a heavy set figure clad in a full body suit of blue armor.

"Drat, that hurt..." He coughed as he stood up. Dark magic particles fluttered around the air around him. Ludwig studied him carefully, he seemed familiar in a deja vu sort of way.

"Whoa hey put me down! Put me down or I'll AH- " Another voice from the other room was cut off by a loud smashing sound.

The blue armored figure stood up and hastily ran back into the battle field, while Ludwig curiously followed. Shattered glass and furniture were all scattered across the room. Two other similar armored figures attacked Hemlock, who fired her strange magic lightning bolts at them. All while the alternate koopalings tried to fight.

"Attack formation X!" Yelled the blue one, most likely the leader of the crew.

"Gotch'ya" A smaller figure in a yellow jump suit and motorcycle helmet gave him a thumbs up.

"Sheesh, you kids don't know when to quit do you?" Hemlock sighed as more and more bolts of lightning crashed around her. She prepared to smite down her nearest opponent, only to be hit by a fire ball.

Stunned, Hemlock was immediately surrounded by the new opposing force.

"Curse this inferior body!" She bellowed.

"Give it up Hemlock, we got you once, we can do it again."

"I'm not going back into that mirror, not on my watch. So long!" Hemlock snapped her fingers and in a green flash, she was gone, along with the other koopalings.

"Blast! She got away." A taller green armored person snapped.

"Jeez what a coward!" The one in the yellow jump suit shook his fist at the spot where Hemlock disappeared..

"What are we going to do? I can't believe she's back." Said the blue one.

"I dunno Andy." The green clad figure sighed.

"Well at least we stopped her from completing that ritual!" The yellow one pitched in.

"True Presto, true." The one called Andy nodded.

Ludwig really had no idea what to make of these people. They sure put up a fight against Hemlock, whoever they were. And obviously this wasn't her first run in with her. Ludwig was tempted to go and possibly ask them for help, but he was actually slightly frightened by them. Something just seemed weird about them that he didn't want to approach.

"Yo Andy, there's someone over in there!" Presto jumped. Andy's head turned towards Ludwig, who was shocked that the short kid even noticed him.

"Hey what the heck are you doing here!" The green one snapped.

"Calm down Vivo." Andy muttered as he walked over to Ludwig. "Are enemies or allies with Hemlock."

"As far as I know, enemies." Ludwig replied.

"Good, a friendly. Nice to meet you, I'm Andante, or Andy if you'd prefer." Andy held out his hand to shake. Ludwig gave it a firm shake, though he was very apprehensive.

"I'm Presto! How you doin'?" Presto shouted with zeal.

"Call me Vivo." The green one nodded.

"Um...my name is Ludwig." Ludwig replied, his face was still.

"So, Ludwig, what part of the empire do you come from, I don't think I've ever seen your face before." Andy asked.

"You definitely haven't, I come from...vell it's a long story." Ludwig sighed.

"Hmm, well, Ludwig. I swear I've met you before." Andy folded his arms in confusion.

"I could say za same myself." Ludwig muttered.

"Hate to interrupt this cordial meeting, but we've gotta go. Hemlock could send her goons here any moment now." Vivo butted in.

"He's right, we need to make ourselves scarce Ludwig, come on." Andy nodded solemnly. He turned around and headed to the door when Ludwig stopped him.

"Vait! Zere's others vis me, but zey're out cold in za ozer room." Ludwig shouted.

"Ugh, I don't think there's enough room in the ground braker to hold much more people Andy." Vivo rolled his eyes.

"I could make a few trips back to get 'em all. I think we've got plenty of time to do that if we're quick." Presto shrugged.

"Sounds like a plan, move out." Andante commanded.

Ludwig and Andante stepped into the so called "Ground Braker." A large drill/tank hybrid that specialized in underground travel. They managed to get Jr., Iggy, and Lemmy loaded in with them before the vehicle was too full to hold any more passengers. Meanwhile Vivo stayed behind to watch the rest of the Koopalings and the Mario bros.

"Heh, hold on this gets a little bumpy." Presto called to the back as he revved the engine. The power drill positioned at the front pushed it's way into the ground and began its under ground drive.

In the back, Andy began pulling of his heavy armor and setting it aside. Ludwig was surprised to find a koopa under it all. A mat of tangly blue hair draped down in in his face. Ludwig gasped, it soon became very apparent who Andante was.

It was him! Him, in whatever universe this was. The odd aura around these guys suddenly made sense now. The tall one, Vivo, was Iggy. And Presto was of course Lemmy.

"So where was it you guys came from again?" Andy asked.

"I never said." Ludwig replied.

"Oh right, long story. Well we've got plenty of time, care to tell?" Andy asked.

"You might find it fairly confusing-"

"Just tell the story."

"Fine, alright. I'm from vhat's called an 'Alternate Universe.' It is very much similar to zis vone." Ludwig explained.

"Do what?"

"You heard me, Alternate Universe. And believe it or not, I'm you." Ludwig replied.

"Did Hemlock hit you over the head or something? Alternate Universe, that's just a bunch of science fiction mumbo jumbo." Andy laughed.

"I'm serious! I'm you from an Alternate Universe!" Ludwig replied frustrated.

"Alright, alright, sorry I asked." Andy muttered.

The rest of the trip was rather uneventful. Andy didn't talk much more, he seemed kind of freaked out by Ludwig now. Either he was scared there was some truth to what he said, or he just thought that Ludwig was out of his mind. Whatever the case, it made for an awkward silence.(All except for Presto singing "Puff, The Magic Dragon" up in the front seat.)

Ludwig tried to his luck again with waking up his sibs, but still no dice. They did however talk in their sleep. Which was amusing all on its own. Iggy kept up a small nonsensical conversation with himself. (It was nothing but grumbles and murmurs though)

Finally the Ground Braker stopped and dropped off its cargo. Ludwig stepped around uneasily in the unfamiliar terrain. A lone building sat in the middle of the deserted clearing. It was in heavy disrepair, but Andy kept walking towards it.

"Hold on a sec, I've gotta call up someone." Andy stepped over to the door and pressed a small intercom button.

"Yeah what is it?" A child's voice spoke impatiently.

"Shut down the defenses Agito, we need to get in." Andy raised his voice.

"Oh, right, right. Hold on a sec..." Agito's voice disappeared for a moment, then returned. "Okay the defenses are shut down, come on in."

Andy opened the door and stepped inside, Ludwig followed close behind. Inside the building was a narrow corridor, neat little holes were poked along the walls. They followed the corridor until they reached a small trap door. Ludwig moaned as he clambered down the small hole in the ground, notches in the sides acted as stepping stones for him follow the bottom, was yet another hallway, except this one had various doors along the sides.

"Hey guys! Get out here, I need some help!" Andy yelled down the hall. There was some grumbling as a group of teens lazily made their way out.

"What is it now Andy?" A girl in a nightgown yawned.

"Hemlock's been busy and kidnapped some people, all but one is out cold, some sort of enchantment." Andy replied.

"Enchantment you say? I'm on it..." The girl replied.

"Well we have to get them down here first Largo." Said Andy.

"Oh well why didn't you say so, send up the big guys then, where's Largamen when you need him..."

"What do you need me for?" A large muscular koopa replied poking his head out of the door.

"Just come with me..." Andy replied.

* * *

~~Some time later

It took a total of 3 trips to get all of the koopalings and the Marios in the base. Ludwig, Largamen, and Andy, all moved them into a small potion room owned by Largo. From what Ludwig could gather, Largo was a skilled sorceress, experienced in all sorts of potions and enchantments.

"Alright, well obviously they've been put under a sleeping spell of some sort." She said.

"Vhat do ve do about it?" Ludwig replied with an impatient tone in his voice.

"It's rather simple, here hand me a glass of water."

"Sis, I don't think this is a good time for a d-"

"Just get me a glass of water."

Andy left for a moment and came back with a glass of water. She pulled it from his hands and poured it on Iggy's head. Iggy sprang to life in an instant.

"Help I'm drowning! CPR CPR!" Iggy screamed.

"Calm down kid, you're all right." Andy patted Iggy on the back, but Iggy just kept on panicking.

"Here I'll deal vis zis." Ludwig sighed. He grabbed Iggy by the shoulders and slapped him across the face, Iggy shut up immediately.

"S-sorry 'bout that." Iggy smiled sheepishly.

"Alright, who's next?" Largo rubbed her hand's together.

It took only five minutes total to awake the enchanted sleepers. All of them were wet, confused, and rather cranky. Especially Morton, who once again was rudely awoken from a pleasant slumber. He made his complaints for a little while, just before dozing back off.

Now regardless of all the complaints, Ludwig was actually somewhat glad to see his siblings up and about. In fact he was very glad to be out of the presence of that Queen Hemlock.

So after the whole initial shock of the awakening, Ludwig got to know these people a little better.

They called themselves the Treble Squad. Their leader was their father Fortissimo. Each of the teens were specialists in certain areas. Andy was the oldest, and head strategist of the team. Presto was next, he was the pilot and vehicle manager. Largamen was the muscle of the group, there was no task that could stop his strength.

Vivo was the tech manager, he built machines, operated machines, in fact he was part machine! (His right leg is a metal replacement.) Largo was the only girl, and knew everything magic, be it potions or spells. Three others that had not yet been seen also made themselves known. The next 2 were two boys by the names of Lento and Legato, both of which were the weapon specialists.

Finally we have Agito, the youngest and base defense system manager. He pretty much makes sure no one gets in our out of the base.

Ludwig and his siblings got themselves properly acquainted as well. It was mainly small talk after wards, until the mention of one name.

"So uh, who is this 'Hemlock' person you guys keep mentioning?" Iggy asked. The room froze.

"You were kidnapped by her and knocked out cold by her!" Andy replied.

"Well actually this weird little kid put me to sleep, I don't ever recall meeting a lady at that castle though. And you still really haven't told me 'who' she is anyways." Iggy scratched the back of his head in thought.

"Oh boy where to begin..." Largo sighed.

"Well first off she's a very powerful evil sorceress." Presto replied.

"That and she's a queen too!" Lento butted in.

"Who's King Hemlock then?" Larry asked. Once again more silence.

"Uh..." Legato's face was bright red.

"Our father, was her husband." Andy coughed.

"Yeah, believe it or not our arch nemesis is our mom!" Agito nodded vigorously.

"Of course dad would've never known that after years of trusting and loving her-"

"That she'd betray him in the end." Lento and Legato replied.

"She got close to him, then one night she bribed all his servants."

"And all his soldiers."

"To help take his life." Andy, Largo, and Vivo all added.

"But he was a bit harder to kill than she thought." Largemen said.

"Yeah, he managed to escape into the wilderness with us." Andy nodded.

"Exiled, we built this fort and remained here for years." Presto added.

"About a year ago, we managed to launch a full scale attack on Hemlock." Largemen said.

"It was very successful, dad managed to cast a spell on Hemlock and seal her away in a mirror."

"But the spell went wrong, and pulled him in as well." Andy sighed.

"Alright so now ve know how zat happened, how' d you guys find Hemlock here so quick?" Ludwig asked.

"It was impossible not to notice the huge earthquake that came out of nowhere." Andy shrugged.

"Vivo pinpointed an energy surge, and we three set out to investigate it." Presto replied.

"We were very shocked to find that Hemlock had broken the curse."

"Only partway though, she was still part of that mirror." Andy pointed out.

"And obviously she wasn't back to her full power, otherwise she would've destroyed us three."

"Where is she now?" Iggy asked.

"She could be anywhere right now, if she knows about this place, she could easily come here through magic." Andy answered.

Everyone looked around at each other nervously. Just the thought of the wicked queen being anywhere near them was disturbing. The room had been left completely and utterly, silent.

* * *

A/N: Wow jeez it's been forever since I've updated this story...on this website. I'm sorry to all the people who enjoy this story on here! I actually got a DA account (I'm Spencerklondike20) and I've been posting stuff there more frequently. After checking my email and seeing people actually like this story I decided to come back and update it here XD


	5. And just when things couldn't get worse

**Disclaimer: Nintendo owns everything that is Nintendo related**

* * *

It was late at night, or afternoon, no one could really tell in this strange world. The clouds were so black and so thick, that no sun shone through. One thing was for sure, most everyone was tired. The magical sleep placed upon all the koopalings was more like dropping one in limbo. Not asleep, nor awake. Just lost. Regardless, the end result was all the same. Everyone was tired and frustrated.

But as time went on, the easy going atmosphere of the Treble Squad shifted. There was a state of fear among them all. Iggy and Ludwig noticed that anything seemed to make them jump. Iggy smiled to himself and as Andy walked by, jumped out and screamed. Andy simply turned and punched Iggy in the face.

"S-sorry, reflex." Andy shook.

"I told you zat vas a bad idea Iggy." Ludwig chuckled.

"Oh shut up." Iggy grumbled rubbing his cheek. "What's with you guys? You seem so...I dunno if nervous is even the right word."

"You don't know how much danger we're in do you?" Andy asked, the two others nervously shook their heads. "Any second now, Hemlock and her army could barge in and destroy us all."

"But that's if she knows we're here right?" Iggy pointed out.

"Yes, but she has her ways." Andante glared.

"Which are?"

"She could send spies to find this place, she can even invade your dreams to try and interrogate you." Andy replied.

"Well how did you stay hidden for so long before?" Iggy asked.

"Our dad...he knew how to create magical barriers to hold her off." Andy sighed. "Now our dad's not here, he could be dead for all we know, and the magical barriers have long since broken."

Ludwig and Iggy were silent. Now they too were worried about Hemlock.

"Is there anyway we can keep her out of our heads?"

"No...but please try your hardest to not give any information about this place in your dreams, got it?"

"Got it..."

* * *

"Curse this wretched, inferior, weak, helpless body!" Hemlock screeched, she was still upset by her latest defeat at the hands of her children. "Why is it that my road to total universal domination has to start with this frail woman!"

Bigmouth and Kooky looked at each other nervously, they both knew she'd be mad if they said something. However she was going to probably hurt them if they didn't say anything. Finally Bigmouth worked up the courage to speak.

"Miss Hemlock, your majesty, on high and all her glory with awesome power that could never be-"

"Get to the point you blubbering buffoon!" Hemlock roared.

"Sorry, but what can we do to help?" Bigmouth winced and shielded his face. Hemlock was about to scream at the impudent child, they were essentially nothing but cannon fodder to her. Why if she had some real minions she could do really do some damage. Then it hit her...she looked down at Bigmouth and smiled her sickly sweet smile, she had a plan for him alright.

"Oh yes, there is something you and your siblings can do."

"I'm, greatly, truly, and deeply sorry for my idiocy your majesty please don't hurt me-wait you do have something?" Bigmouth perked up.

"Why of course young Bigmouth, take a look at this great big map right here." Hemlock pointed at a wall, suddenly a large map etched itself into the stone. "You see the large square that says 'The Temple of Astrum Luminarium?''"

"Yup!" Bigmouth and Kooky nodded their heads.

"Well I need you and your siblings to go there, and and place these two special little gems and put them in the respective holes." Hemlock said in a cutesy voice. "This ruby, and this emerald."

"Sounds great your majesty! However I have a quick question, with you and your magical jumpity jumping powers. How is it that you couldn't go there yourself and take your gems? I mean it would be much more faster and much much more efficient if you did it yourself!" Bigmouth reasoned.

"Silence you fool! Dare you question my authority!" Hemlock snapped at him, Bigmouth retreated into his shell. "Besides, my magic isn't powerful enough to pass through the seal that blocks me from getting in. You however, are immune to it, since you are not shadow beings."

"Oh! Well why didn't you say so in the first place your majesty I mean-"

"Shut up Bigmouth before you get us both turned into little blocks of wood." Kooky smacked Bigmouth.

"Yes Bigmouth, you should really listen to your brother here, he really does have _some _brains." Hemlock rolled her eyes.

"You see that, even she says I'm a genius! Wahoeheheoeheh" Kooky cackled.

"Are you going to do this or not!" Hemlock snapped.

"Oh yes right on it your majesty!"

"Yeah we won't let you down!"

Hemlock rubbed her temples and sat down. How she ended up with these idiots was a mystery to her. But now she had other business to attend to, very important business.

* * *

Ludwig sat on a bed, just a bed. He wasn't sure where he was, what he was doing there. Nor did he really care, the room he was in had sort of a peaceful atmosphere. The only thing he wished he had, was either his gameboy, or some sort of instrument to be plucking around with. With a sigh he stretched out along the bed and stared at the ceiling. Suddenly, a figure took shape on the ceiling, he thought it was just his imagination, but boy was he wrong.

Suddenly a woman...not just any woman, Hemlock, ascended from the ceiling and onto the foot of the bed. He gasped and tried to run away, but the bed sheets came alive, and held him down. He shot fire, and eventually even started biting at the sheets, but to avail the sheets still held him in place.

"Shush, don't worry, I'm not here to hurt you Ludwig." She smiled.

"Leave me alone you ugly hag!" Ludwig snapped.

"Now that's not nice, I prefer to be called a witch." Hemlock frowned. "And trust me you don't want to piss a witch off."

"Vait a second...no you can't do anyzing to me!" Ludwig smiled. "I just realized, zis is a dream! Yes all a dream, Andante vas telling me all about zis."

"Oh really? Then how's is for 'nothing'" Hemlock held out her hand and the sheets tightened around his throat. He actually started choking.

"S-stop, please..." Ludwig wheezed. His vision was blurring, he actually felt himself suffocating to death.

"Fine." Hemlock snapped, the bedsheets eased their tension. "Now Ludwig, I came here, ready to offer you a deal, are you willing to listen to my offer?"

"Once again I don't have much a choice...since you've tied me to zis death bed." Ludwig snapped.

"Good." Hemlock smiled again. "Here's the deal, how would you like to join me at my side as my number one go to guy."

"Vhat! You're joking, you zink I vould just-"

"As if you have it better here." Hemlock sighed. "Just look at you. You're a grouchy, irritable, young man with so much talent being wasted."

"Vhat?" Ludwig muttered.

"Your talent is being wasted, wasted on useless kidnapping missions and it's being overshadowed by a spoiled brat."

"How did you..."

"You could amount to so much, if you were say...a king?" Hemlock leaned over Ludwig. "Yes, you have brains, and some brawn to your name."

"I am going to be king, it's in my birthright..."Ludwig stammered.

"Ludwig, we both know that isn't going to happen. Who's daddy's little favorite? Who's the one that daddy gives so much love and attention to?" Hemlock asked, Ludwig didn't answer. "Well it's not you that's for sure."

"Vhy are you doing zis to me?" Ludwig growled.

"I'm simply telling you why my offer will make your life better." Hemlock replied.

"You haven't said a damn zing about how much your plan is going to make my life better, you're just telling me how much my life sucks already."

"Well if you join me, you will most definitely be a king." Hemlock replied. "You will be respected, and I will not hold you back on your talent. Your ability to lead and invent, to compose and to fight, I could better with my magic. And any problems you may have with yourself now, I could throw out the window with magic."

"Vhat if you screw me up...like zat king Koopa, you turned him into a ruler!" Ludwig shook his head.

"Please, stop making excuses to deny this, what good would you be to me if you were a board of wood?" Hemlock sighed. "Perhaps if you got a taste of what I can give you, please, come forth."

The bed sheets pulled away. Ludwig sat up and looked at Hemlock. Reluctantly, he stepped towards her, so as not to upset her. He clenched his eyes shut as she grabbed his wrist, and with a flash he felt energy surge through him and finally he was dropped into a grand throne room. Thousands of people sat before him, cheering about something.

He looked around, it was sensory overload. The room was decorated with huge statues of grand stars, the floor seemed to be paved with jewels. The ceiling was painted so that it appeared to be the night sky staring down at him, the stars were literally diamonds lodged into the ceiling. The very throne he sat in was made of pure gold.

Finally he realized that he too had changed. A mirror sat next to him, the sight frightened him. It was him, but he looked like his dad. However the fright passed over for some reason, he suddenly didn't care. Why didn't he care? He had no idea what was coming over him, soon, he just threw all feeling to the wind and reveled in his achievement, whatever it may have been.

"I see you're enjoying yourself Ludwig." Hemlocks voice echoed across the room. "See what I can give you? If you want this scene to become a reality, find the Devil's Maw..."

Ludwig was about ask just what was the 'Devil's Maw' however everything went dark. He shouted for it all to come back, but sadly it was all disappearing. Soon, everything went black. Ludwig just about cursed to himself. However another voice echoed across the darkness.

"Come on Ludwig! Get up!" Iggy shook his older brother. He had been at this for ten minutes now and Ludwig wouldn't budge. Iggy sighed and knew what had to be done. "Hey tubby, get your grouchy butt out of bed!" Ludwig popped Iggy in the face and groggily sat up.

"Do you have to be such an annoying little pest?" Ludwig muttered.

"Andy says you need to get up, we need to go hunt or something like that." Iggy replied. "It's to earn our keep."

"Hunting? For food?" Ludwig yawned.

"Yeah, he says that there's this spot that he spotted some wild rabbits or something." Iggy nodded "Over by this place called the Devil's Maw or something like that."

Ludwig suddenly had a burst of energy and jumped out of bed. Iggy sat at the side, totally confused by his behavior._ I guess Ludwig's really hungry for rabbit_ Iggy shrugged to himself.

* * *

"Are you sure dis is da place?" Bully asked.

"Of course, you dare doubt my genius intellect?" Kooky sighed.

The huge temple stood before them. It's roof was the shape of a dome, bright white light emitted from the top. Inside was surprisingly bare. Just two pedestals sat on the far end of an enormous open room. Seeing as how they needed to place two things in the temple, it only seemed logical to approach them. However Cheatsy had an uneasy feeling about the place.

"Guys I think something, is watching us." Cheatsy's shifty eye's darted from left to right.

"Nothing is watching us, for the last time, you've been saying that the whole trip here." Kootie Pie replied, her voice just as uneasy. "So shut up about it because you're scaring me!"

Cheatsy just muttered to himself and pressed forward. The group stayed together in a tight formation, watching all sides nervously. It took for what seemed like hours of nervous shuffling before they reached the pedestals. Bigmouth pulled out the first gem, a fiery ruby sphere. Next, a glimmering emerald cut in the shape of a pyramid.

"So what're we waiting for? Let's get these in their holes and get out of this spooky place." Kooky chuckled shakily.

He licked his lips and snatched up the two gems. He placed them each in the correct pedestal. Soon after a tremor violently shook the building. A wave of darkness descended upon the room. In a huge, violent explosion, the dome that once served as the roof of the building exploded and released splash of purple light.

A wide vortex opened up in the center of the room. The gems on the pedestals shattered, liquid essence spilled from the remains and slithered over the the vortex. In a split second the vortex swallowed the essence and began flashing a plethora of colors. The koopa kids watched, terrified, yet intrigued by the sight.

Suddenly, two figures began forming from the center of the vortex. One made of pure ruby, the other made of pure emerald. Two dark 'hearts' rose from the vortex, and embedded themselves into the gem statues. Their 'eyes' emitted an eery glow, while the hearts began pulsating within the translucent bodies of the figures. Their limbs, creaked to life, while the kids could only stare in pure shock and awe.

These, were Hemlock's most loyal, and most dangerous servants.

* * *

So far the hunt had been all but successful. To make matters worse, they were forced into the decision to split up the group to try and cover more ground. Ludwig and Iggy, with Presto and Andy. The rabbits Andy had spotted seemed to have disappeared, and when they did spot one, Ludwig accidentally scared it off before they could kill it. Frustration and hunger set in, and soon the two of the four hunters were bickering.

"Jeez Ludwig, did you have to be so loud, I almost had it." Iggy complained.

"Shut up Iggy, aren't helping any!" Ludwig snapped.

"I'm helping better than you are."

"Oh really, zen explain to me how you vere going to get zat rabbit huh? How vere you going to shoot it, vis za safety on your weapon turned on!"

"At least I got that close to nabbing it! You just had to stomp around and scare it off." Iggy rolled his eyes. "Maybe missing a few meals isn't going to do you much harm Ludwig."

"Hey vhat's zat supposed to mean?" Ludwig growled.

"You know exactly what I mean."

"No I don't, how about you come over here and enlighten me."

"Fine, you missing a few meals isn't going to harm your wa-" Ludwig cut Iggy off and grabbed him by the throat.

"I've had it vis your constant fat jokes and your stupid immature behavior!" Ludwig roared. "You sicken me you little rat. How is it zat I end up vis a horrible little brother like you. You never give me a break, and you constantly demoralize me vis your taunts and your jokes."

"Well if you would just lighten up a bit, and try not to take everything so damn serious, then we wouldn't have this issue." Iggy retorted.

"I'm not going to lighten up because you never take anyzing seriously. If I'm not going to grow up and be za mature voice, zen who vill?"

"I do take things seriously Ludwig! I'm just trying to keep everyone else happy by staying optimistic." Iggy snapped. "You're being selfish, you're upset, and dragging everyone down with you. You know what, Larry's right, you're becoming more and more like dad everyday."

"Zat's vhat you zink? Really? Oh vell zen if I'm like father, zen I guess I'm just going to leave you. Just as he's done us. Left us to do his dirty vork vhile he rots in his little bed back home." Ludwig threw Iggy down and began trudging off.

"Alright then you really are like dad, and if that's true, then I'm going to hate you as much as I hate him!" Iggy shouted. "Go ahead and die out here with Hemlocks goons, see what I care."

Iggy glared at Ludwig, who turned around and faced him. The enraged teens locked eyes. Iggy really meant it, that he didn't care that Ludwig probably would meet certain death at the hands of Hemlock.

"I'm going to die? You don't know how ironic zat statement is. Good bye, for good Iggy." Ludwig's face spread into a grin and laughed. Iggy felt a chill run up his back, something was very wrong with Ludwig, very wrong.

He was tempted to go run over to Ludwig, and apologize or something. However, he sat still and let Ludwig leave. But just as Ludwig disappeared from view, gun shots sounded across the woods. A tree next to Iggy was reduced to splinters as three armored Mushroomers rose from the brush. Iggy threw himself behind a tree, peaked around, and fired the small hunting rifle that Andy gave him.

There was a resonant whump and one of the soldiers limped forward, he had been shot in the thigh. Iggy gulped, loaded the gun again as sweat ran down his brow. He aimed the gun, clenched his eyes shut and fired. A scream of pain and the Mushroom's body slumped to the ground, dead.

"Andy, Presto, anybody help!" Iggy screamed. More gun fire from the soldiers roared in Iggy's direction. The tree's thick trunk slowly snapped.

Iggy peeked around his cover again and shot the soldier in the face. He didn't even have the chance to scream as he fell to the ground. The third soldier shot at Iggy again, this time a bullet hit him in the arm. Iggy cried in pain and crouched behind the tree again. Iggy sifted in his ammo pouch and loaded another bullet into his rifle.

He bit his bottom lip, tears welled up in his eyes. The soldier was moving closer to him, he knew Iggy was injured, and would stand a chance if he got close enough to him. Iggy, however, wasn't going to let that happen.

The foot steps of his opponent noisily crunched over the underbrush. Iggy pointed just his weapon around the tree, and listened carefully. With one last crunch, he had the mushroomer soldier in his imaginary sights. He squeezed the trigger, and with a bang the soldier cried out.

Iggy jumped out of cover and hammered the injured mushroomer with the butt of his rifle. His opponent fell back, limbs sprawled about on the ground. Iggy loaded the gun again, pointed down, and fired. With one final cry, the final soldier was dead. Iggy grabbed his bleeding arm and leaned against a tree panting, he felt like he was going to throw up. He hadn't had to kill anything in a long time, especially not a mushroomer. But Iggy still felt it was him, or the soldiers.

His victory was short lived however, as more gun fire sounded across the woods. Iggy knew he was hopeless now. He could hear their footsteps, closing in on him. The crunching of the sticks matched his heart beat. His ever growing fear gripped his limbs. To think that he the last person he talked with was Ludwig, and he was going to forever remember him as an immature brat that hated him. He'd never see home again, never see his dad, Kamek, his brothers and sisters. He'd tell his mom they said hi, Iggy chuckled at the thought, and embraced whatever swift death may turn around this tree.

"Oh my Stars, it's just you Iggy." Presto sighed as he jumped around Iggy's cover.

"Come on we've gotta get out of here...where's your brother?" Andy asked.

"I don't k-know we had an argument...then we split up...and now I have no idea where he is. He walked in that direction." Iggy pointed over to where Ludwig trudged off.

"Damn it..." Andy growled. "He doesn't stand a chance alone against all these soldiers, Iggy, I'm afraid to say that we can only assume the worst, that he's dead out there."

"N-no that's not right, he can't be dead. I didn't say I was sorry." Iggy replied wide eyed.

"I'm sorry Iggy, but that's how things go in this world..."

"But he's still gotta be alive, I mean I made it didn't I?"

"Iggy...you only fought three soldiers, Ludwig is marching against them by himself. It's him versus at least 20 at the most."

Iggy didn't want to believe it...but then he remembered that laugh. That horrible, evil laugh. A horrible thought crossed Iggy's mind. Was Ludwig planning this attack? Did he want them all to die?

"Hold still dude, I'll patch you best I can, but we'll have to get you all fixed up with Largo back at base."

"Andy...I don't think Ludwig is on our side." Iggy muttered.

"What makes you say that?" Andy asked.

"Because as soon as he left, the soldiers attacked." Iggy clenched his eyes shut.

What the hell was going on with his family? Why did they have to fall apart now. Why Ludwig why?

* * *

A/N: I was a little more action oriented this time! yeah...I can't write one on one fights very well...so a gun fight was a solution to inability to write a good beat 'em up scene


End file.
